Ange Clair
by Celtic Water Spirit
Summary: The young Kazekage of Sunagakure is always quiet, but how will things change after Sune moves to the village to train in hopes of becoming a skilled ninja? Follow these two as they grow, make new friends, go on adventures, and get to know each other.
1. Enter: Sune Ichinarwa!

**So this was my first fanfic, it's a Gaara love story and an OC, who the story follows the most. I know there is still some grammar or spelling errors floating around, but there shouldn't be many, so don't worry about it.**

**Anything that is like this: **~_'Text'_~** Means that it is inner thoughts.**

**I have many pictures and even a short doujinshi of the first chapter on my dA that are available to view. The link to that should be my homepage link on my profile. So this is the only actual note I'm going to make until the end. So thanks for reading and I look forward to reading what you have to say in your reviews.  
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**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 1**

**Enter, Sune Ichinarwa!**

In the post office of Sunagakure, Sune Ichinarwa hummed quietly to herself as she checked her family's mailbox, hoping that it will have the letter from the village's Kazekage for her first mission briefing as a Suna ninja.

"There all locked, now to see if I got my letter," the young kunoichi said to herself as she locked the mailbox back up before looking through the mail. "I did! It's from the Kazekage, at last I get to start my first mission as a Suna ninja! I'm so excited!" she smiled as she began to walk through the sandy streets of Suna. Dark purple hair swayed and pale green eyes twinkled with joy as she walked. She wore a white dress that went to her mid thigh and a light blue corset with pink ribbons around her torso.

She looked at the other letters. Bills, junk, and something else that caught her attention. "Hey, this one is for mom and dad and it says it's urgent, dang, now I have to find the hospital in order to get this to them before tomorrow," she groaned before starting off to look for the hospital.

Sune and her family are new to Sunagakure. Sune had not even met the Kazekage yet, but her parents only told her that he is younger then they expected when they came back from meeting with him about getting temporary work at the hospital. Their small family came to the village after they had lived with Sune's dying aunt to take care of her during her last days. Before that, Sune traveled with her parents from villages to towns throughout the Land of Wind so her parents could help give medical attention to those that couldn't go to a local medical center or that did not have one available. Thanks to those experiences, Sune now has a great deal of knowledge about different kinds of people, jutsu, and other interesting things that can help her be a better ninja. She also has many memories that she will remember forever, many good, and others not.

Sune roamed the village still not familiar with the layout and with no idea where to go. "This would be easier if Suna wasn't so big and everything didn't look the same…" she stated to herself looking up towards the Kazekage building as she stepped around a corner to make her way down another street.

Sune was not looking where she was going as she turned and bumped into someone unexpectedly, "Oaf," she yipped as she propelled off the person. The other person said nothing. "Oh sorry about bumping into you like that mister…" she hurried. She looked up instantly when they did not say anything to see a teen guy with red hair, either too much eyeliner or really bad insomnia, and dressed in dark red, obviously a shinobi of Suna. "… mister, uh…" she continued waiting for him to give a name or at least say something, "…I uh didn't see you-" she said blushing with embarrassment, and wondering why he was just standing there just staring at her with his aquamarine eyes.

"Of course you didn't with your hair in you face," he cut her off as he reached over to brush her long bangs out of her eyes, surprising her and making her blush more. "You must not be a very good ninja if you cannot see around you," he stated plainly.

She was a little offended by this, "I had a hair pin but it broke and I don't have another one yet, see?" she explained to the stranger holding out the broken clip as proof.

"Let me see it maybe I can fix it," he said in a tone that sounded like an order as he held out his other hand because the other was still holding her hair out of her face.

"Uh sure," she said unsure as she placed the broken clip in his hand. She watched as his hand closed around the pin and sand started to flow to it from all around. _~'Sand?'~ _she thought amazed. She stood silently still astounded as he placed the clip in her hair and pulled his hand away, ~'_He fixed it with sand?'~ _She wondered how that was possible, _~'He's leaving,'~ _she thought as she saw him step around her and continue on this way as if there encounter was nothing. She had to say something, anything, "Wait," she tried and he stopped. but did not turn back around, "Do you know where the hospital is?" she asked.

"Foolish girl, not very observant are you?" he said in a deep monotone voice and still not turning around.

_~'And I thought he was nice!'~ _she thought disappointed.

"You've been standing in front of it this entire time," he finished.

She turned quickly and sure enough she could see the big sign saying 'Sunagakure' with a large red medical cross under it, _~'Well, I don't feel like a huge idiot right now,'~ _she thought sarcastically, "Well thanks for- hey he's gone?" she started turning back, but did not see him anywhere in sight.

- Later that night -

Sune sat on her bed in her nighty while drawing in her diary, venting about her day. Mainly about the stranger she met today. "'You must not be a very good ninja'," she repeated his words to herself in a mocking tone, "'Foolish girl, not very observant are you?' Ug! First young guy I meet here and he has to be like that? All men are the same…" Sune stopped drawing and looked at her work, she drew him, though she didn't know why. Instead of the love kanji, she drew a heart on his forehead with a red pen. She thought 'Love' was a strange tattoo for a guy, but she was not one to judge, it was better then some things, and somehow he pulled if off without looking stupid or weak in any way. She looked at her hair clip sitting on her nightstand beside the bed, it was indeed made of sand in the shape of a tiny gourd.

She shook her head to attempt to rid herself of thoughts about him. "Now I have to stay focused because tomorrow I meet the Kazekage and get my first mission as a Suna ninja!" she said to herself with a determined look and her pencil clutched in her hand in front of her face.

- Meanwhile in the Kazekage's office -

Kankuro was attempting to set up a date for Gaara by holding up the different girl's status pages, "How 'bout this girl?" he asked his younger brother.

"No," Gaara said not even looking at the paper with the picture on it and continued his work.

"This one?" he asked holding up another.

"No."

"This one?"

"No."

"How 'bout-"

"No," Gaara cut him off still not paying attention and working.

"Aw, come on Gaara at least look at this one," Kankuro pleaded trying to get his brother at least somewhat show some interest in girls. Gaara rolled his eyes and looked at the paper being held up. "See this girl, she's new to Suna, so it would be like working with a clean slate," he said referring to the fact she would not already have feared him because of his demon.

"'Sune?'" he read the name, "Already met her, didn't care for her, now go away," he said plainly.

Kankuro knew not to try to argue with Gaara. Even though he has got a lot better concerning his attitude, temper, and demon influence, he still had his bad days and times when he did not take crap from anybody.

Kankuro sighed and put the papers back in the file and set them back down on Gaara's desk before heading towards the door. "Fine, well I have to go anyway," he said, "But don't come crying to me when there are mysterious strippers in your room!" he called from outside the door with only his waving hand visible.

"I already said absolutely no strippers, Kankuro!" Gaara shouted towards the door while standing up. After that he went back to work for the night ignoring Shukaku's comments about how he would like to see the strippers so he could kill them.

- The next morning in Sune Ichinarwa's house -

Sune was standing in darkness, alone. She looked all around trying to find a light, but saw nothing. This feeling was familiar. The weight on her heart that made it feel like it was going to sink into nothingness, pain, and despair. The feeling where all she could hope for was that her heart would fade away, and no longer feel anything. No more pain. No more sadness. No more regret.

_"I love you," a familiar voice said from the darkness._

"What's happening here?" she asked, remembering the voice.

_"You're weak," the same voice said from another place in the darkness._

_"How could you?" she hear her own voice echo from a distance._

_"Hopeless…"_

_"Why did you-?"_

_"You're just in the way…"_

_"But I thought-"_

_"You're better off dead…"_

_"It's not fair…"_

Sune jumped up and gasped before looking around. She was in her room safe and warm with the morning sun light peering through the edges of her curtains lighting up her room. She realized she was just dreaming and looked down noticing that she was covered in sweat, so she got up to take a shower right away.

_~'It seems like no matter what I do, I can't shake those memories of when me and me parents went to live there to take care of my aunt while she was dying,'~ _she thought as she stepped out of the shower and rapping a towel around her before moving to the sink to brush her teeth, _~'The people I thought loved me betrayed me…'~_

Soon after getting ready she left her house, made sure to lock the door, and made her way through the village to the Kazekage building. _~'I guess all I can do now is move forward and hope for something better…'~ _Sune thought as she stood in front the Kazekage building looking up at the 'Wind' symbol.

She walked in and saw an open room with sets of stairs that curved up on both sides along the walls. Directly in front there was a large open doorway with a woman sitting behind a desk. After speaking with the woman, she told Sune that the Kazekage will see her now. Sune told the nice woman thanks before heading through the hallway and into the Kazekage's office after knocking and waiting for him to say she can come in.

As Sune stepped inside she could not see the Kazekage, because he was sitting in his chair behind his desk facing the windows in the opposite direction. She stood on the edge of the purple rug on the floor waiting.

"Sune Ichinarwa," he stated and she could see that he was holding up a paper reading off of it, "Age: 15, Rank: Genin, no teammates yet, you have traveled quite a bit, have some unique abilities, Ninjutsu: 6, Taijutsu: 4, Genjutsu: 6, Intelligence: 6, Power: 5, Speed: 7, Stamina: 5, Hand Seals: 5," he listed.

"Wait, I thought I was a '7' on intelligence," she said not wanting to correct him, but remembering her test scores from when she first got to village, and they said 7, she was sure of it.

"You were," he said plainly. "But I took off a point because of your lack of observation yesterday," he finished.

_~'Yesterday? Wait a minute-'~ _she thought remembering what that guy she met yesterday said. Could it be?

"If there isn't any problems, we will now move on to your mission briefing," the Kazekage ordered while turning back in his chair slowly, revealing his identity.

Sune stood in shock upon see that red hair, love kanji, dark circles around the eyes, and fair skin. Her inner self was freaking out, _~'He's the guy from yesterday, the guy from yesterday is the Kazekage! You've got to be kidding me! I knew he was young but I was expecting late twenties to early thirties to be a Kage! I can't believe I made such a fool out of myself, I'm so stupid! Just my luck! I know, this is a dream or a trick, it has to be!'~ _

Sune finally got herself to speak, "Wait a second, you're the Kazekage? But you're only like eighteen," she said pointing at him accusingly.

"You better believe it," a male voice said from behind her. She quickly turned to see a guy in a traditional Japanese Bunraku puppeteers outfit with cat-hat-like-thing with his Suna forehead protector and purple make-up. He was leaning against the door frame and grinning. "Because whether you like it or not, Gaara IS the Kazekage," he continued, "Oh, and he's fifteen."

_~'F-f-fifteen!,'~ _she thought surprised.

"Hi, Sune right? I recognize you from your picture, I'm Gaara's older brother Kankuro, nice to meet cha!" he said in a friendly, but creepy tone as he walked up to her and waved.

"Hi…" Sune said with a nervous smile, he was a little too creepy for her comfort.

Kankuro then noticed the little gourd shaped clip in Sune's hair and got a sly smirk, _~'Didn't care for here huh? Sly little bro, very sly heh heh heh…'~ _he thought, thinking something intimate happened between them already.

_~'Why is he staring at me like that, it's so creepy,'~ _Sune thought looking away.

"Ahem," they both heard from Gaara to get their attention.

"Right," Kankuro started walking over to Gaara, "Temari told me to tell you that she left early for Konoha, and there's something else I need to talk to you about but it can wait until after Sune is done here," he finished.

Gaara was slightly confused as to why it had to wait. "Very well…" he said coming to the conclusion that it was not that important and could wait anyway and that he should continue this mission briefing. "Sune, here is your mission," he said setting a paper down at the edge of his desk for her to take and look at. "Until you are able to gain my trust as a Sunagakure ninja, and until I can put together a team for you, you will be doing solo missions that Temari, Kankuro, or myself will supervise," he explained as she looked at the mission.

"This D-rank mission is just a list of household chores, are you saying you want me to clean your house?" Sune said disappointed and confused, her inner self was thinking that it's an easy mission and it will be over before lunch.

Kankuro turned to Gaara who had propped his elbows on the edge of his desk in front of him and folded his hands in front of his mouth, "Whoa! Gaara, you're actually giving her _That_ as a mission? I mean, I know the place is a little messy but what happened to the maids?" Kankuro asked his brother.

The Kazekage sighed not looking at either of them .but instead picked up a file and started going through it. "First of all," he started, "There are no low level missions available right now," he said before shooting a glance a Kankuro, "The first maid we hired quit because Temari made her cry," he said answering his bother's second question, "The second, I fired when she wouldn't stop hitting on us, and the last one quit because you, Kankuro, kept hitting on her," he said setting the papers back down.

"Oops, my bad…" Kankuro said.

"Besides," Gaara started again, "This mission will prove to us just how good of a ninja she is," he said before looking back to Sune, "Sune, if you finish this mission before five p.m. you will get a bonus," he said as we wrote something down on another slip of paper. "Sune, take this note to Raven and Suki, they should be waiting outside to be your escort. If you don't have any questions you are dismissed," he finished.

"Right," Sune said taking the paper and heading for the door. Just as she got to the door she turned and smiled, "Oh, there is one thing I would like to say."

"Yes?" Gaara answered.

"Thank you for yesterday, you left before I could say that," she said blushing slightly.

"Think nothing of it," he said reading another file.

"Yeah, Gaara's the Kazekage," Kankuro reminded standing next to his brother. "It's part of his job to help the people of Suna however he can," he explained.

"Alright then, that makes sense," Sune smiled. "Nice to meet both of you, and I'll get this mission done by five and get that bonus, I promise it," she finished before leaving and closing the door behind her.

After Sune left, Gaara looked at his brother, "What?" he asked remembering that Kankuro said that he wanted to talk with him after she left.

Kankuro grinned, "Sooo?" Gaara blinked with a straight face. "Is there something you wanna tell me?" he asked but Gaara blinked again. "About yesterday?" this time he raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "With Sune?"

"I don't understand what you're asking, Kankuro." Gaara said annoyed.

Kankuro decided to spell it out for him hoping not to make him mad. "What happened yesterday with Sune, I saw a clip in her hair that looked suspiciously like your sand gourd."

Gaara turned back to his paperwork. "Yes, I put that there on a broken clip she had, one day that small amount of sand will protect her from harm," he explained.

"Huh?"

"A low level ninja like her will get into trouble at some point, that sand will be just enough to block an attack and warn me when something's wrong."

"Interesting…" Kankuro said mostly to himself.

Sune walked back through the large hallway to the main room, _~'Those sure are interesting people, first the Kazekage turns out to be a fifteen-year-old with an attitude I could see from a mile away, and then that make-up guy, Kankuro, is friendly but creepy looking,'~ _Sune thought_, ~'At least one of them is cute, there has to be balance somewhere,'~ _she smiled. She could see two girls in the front area of the building. She wondered if those were the people she was suppose to give the note the Kazekage gave her so she could finally begin her mission.


	2. The First Mission?

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 2**

**The First Mission?**

As Sune walked into the front area of the Kazekage building she could see two girls that looked slightly older than her. The first one was leaning against a wall with her arms folded, she had long dark blonde hair tied back, a red Suna headband tied around the top of her head (like Sakura) with her bangs on one side, wearing a short sleeved mesh top under a red shirt with an upright collar, and black pants and ninja gear, except for maroon elbow covers. The other was looking at a file, she has long light blonde hair with a pink bow in the back holding back some of her hair, with her bangs covering her forehead, wearing a short pink top over a longer white one, with black pants and ninja gear, and her Suna headband was pink and tied around the belt area.

They both looked up to Sune as she walked in. The kunoichi in the pink quickly went over to Sune, "Are you Sune Ichinarwa?" she asked as the one in the red walked over to them.

"Yes, I am," Sune answered as she handed her the note the Kazekage gave her. She looked at it then gave it to the one in red to look at. Then the two shared a look that made Sune worry about what was in the note.

"Okay, follow us," the one in the pink said. "Oh by the way, I'm Suki and this is Raven," she added.

"Hello, Suki and Raven," Sune smiled as she followed them. Raven nodded once and half smiled in response.

They headed up the stairs to the right of the entry, "So, how'd you get suck with this job?" Suki asked as they walked.

"What do you mean?" Sune asked.

"Oh, just wondering," she said then looked at Raven who shrugged and gave a look that said don't look at me.

After walking through hallways and up stairs they stopped at a door. "This is it, the home of the Kazekage family," Suki said as Raven stepped forward and pulled out a large ring of keys and unlocked the door.

"We're sorry," they both said before they hurried off down the hallway and around a corner, leaving Sune confused.

"I wonder what that was about? They have nothing to be sorry for," Sune said to herself before opening the door.

Sune stood in the doorway in shock as she looked at the place she was suppose to clean. It looked like a tornado went through it, and not to Sune's knowledge, that is not exactly impossible.

"People actually live here!" she said deciding to keep her shoes on as she looked around. "Okay, first I need to see what all I need to do," she said looking around the front room. There were stacks of boxes with files sitting on top, in, and around them along with shoes sitting everywhere.

Next was the living room. More boxes, papers, and files. It had dishes and trash lying out, and it looked like it hadn't been dusted in a while. The kitchen was disgusting. The dinning area looked like it had been turned into a place to put all the boxes of files for a while. Sune could barley walk through the hallway. She found what looked like a home library and office that was a mess.

The first bedroom Sune looked at was obviously a girls room that looked like a tornado went through it and was in desperate need to do the laundry and put things away. On the other side of the hall was an empty room. The second room was defiantly a guys room. It also had clothes laying about on the floor and on top of stuff, puppet parts, papers, and a couple magazines Sune wished she did not see, "Eeewwww!" Sune shouted jumping back into the hallway. Still disgusted she again stepped to the other side of the hall to see two more empty, but dusty rooms.

Not wanting to go anywhere near the last bedroom she was in, she opened the door to the last bedroom, but when she did she could hardly see anything. As she walked through the room to open the curtains she could something feel soft yet crunchy below her feet. After letting light into the room she turned to see sand everywhere. The bed looked like it was never used and had books, clothes, and a few files on it.

"Oh, this is just great…" she groaned going back to the front room. She stood there for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do. Sune remembered that she had promised to get this done before 5 p.m. and get that bonus. She was not going to go back on a promise.

With a new found determination, Sune made a hand-sign and created seven clones. She knew seven was a little much for her to use for the whole day and that she would be exhausted by the end of it, but whatever it takes to complete the mission, no matter how lame it is.

The first clone was on trash duty. She went around and picked up all the things she knew could be thrown away and put them into large trash bags. She still couldn't believe people actually lived here.

The second was to do something with all the boxes of papers and files. She found and put all of them into one of the empty rooms and even took the time to organize and stack them neatly.

Third, swept and mopped all the floors. First she swept and found that there was a lot more sand on the floors then she thought possible. Then she mopped the floors that could be mopped. She had to constantly get clean water, because the sand was impossible to sweep up completely.

Forth, clean the dishes that were dirty and put them away, which was all of them. Altogether it was about six loads. About halfway through washing all those dishes, she finally put rubber gloves on to keep her hands from getting any more pruney.

Fifth was on laundry duty. She found the laundry/ utility room and saw that the laundry baskets that were in there were already filled and over flowing, mostly with girl's clothes. "I really hope this isn't their mom's," she said holding up a lacy revealing bra while making a load of delicates. "Do boxers count as delicates or just colors?" she asked herself while sorting the clothes for each load she would have to make sure to get done. Luckily there was two washing machines.

Sixth was in charge of putting things away, like books, video games, shoes, laundry after they were cleaned, and more. She was also in charge of organization and making sure everything was neat and tidy, like making the beds, fluffing pillows, and fixing the angles of the pictures on the walls. While going through she noticed the same picture in all three of the occupied bedrooms. It was of the Kazekage, his brother Kankuro, and a blonde haired girl that Sune guessed was their sister or something.

The seventh clone was in charge of dusting. This included taking out the rugs and beating the dirt and sand out of them while one of the other clones swept and mopped. When that clone was done, she put the rugs neatly back where they belonged.

The real Sune went out and did the grocery shopping when she saw that there was nearly nothing to eat. She also picked up some more cleaning supplies and even got a few small office size waste baskets for some of the rooms to encourage throwing stuff away instead of just leaving and forgetting it.


	3. Mission Success! Payment and Bonus!

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 3**

**Mission Success! Payment and Bonus! **

~~~ At 5 p.m. that evening ~~~

Gaara and Kankuro were walking home through the Kazekage building to check on Sune's progress now that work was done for the day.

"I still can't believe that as a mission, you gave her that list of chores Temari gave for us to do before she returns," Kankuro teased.

"I don't have the time and you were the one complaining so much about how you wouldn't be able to do it and Temari would get angry again," Gaara explained annoyed.

"Feel kind of bad for her," Kankuro sighed, "A pretty girl like that shouldn't be cleaning, heck she doesn't even look like she could be a ninja."

"Is that so?" Gaara asked rhetorically. "You should know not to let looks deceive you, but I agree that she doesn't seem very powerful, she must specialize in genjutsu," he theorized.

As they came up to their front door they could see Raven and Suki leaning against the door trying to listen through. "What are you doing?" Kankuro asked.

They both pulled away from the door. "We were wondering if she was okay and still working, because we haven't heard a thing for the last fifteen minutes," Suki explained.

"I'll check," Gaara said opening the door. When he open the door and they all looked in and froze standing in awe. Everything was shiny and sparkly clean.

Raven and Suki left as Gaara and Kankuro looked around in the next room to see that it too was cleaned to perfection. "Now, this just isn't possible," Kankuro said scratching his head through his hat-thingy, "I know, did she put everything in here?" he asked opening a closet door to find it clean and organized, "Okay… how about under here?" he then looked under a rug but there was no sign of any cheater cleaning. "I guess she did a good job after all," Kankuro said looking around.

"What are you looking for?" Gaara asked his brother.

"The remote, I can't find it," he said and then started to freak out, "Where's the remote!"

Gaara sighed and pointed to the coffee table in the middle seating area.

"Oh hehe I knew that…" he said as he went to pick it up and sit on the couch.

Gaara walked over to the kitchen to check it out. He looked around a little bit pleased with what he saw before noticing a long slip of paper on the kitchen table, _~'We had a table in here?'~ _he thought as he picked up the paper to look at it. It was a receipt for the groceries. He would reimburse Sune later so he put it back down just before Kankuro came in.

"Wow, in here too? I vote we keep Sune!" Kankuro exclaimed. "Can we keep her, Gaara, can we?" he grinned. Gaara rolled his eyes at his brother and shook his head slightly. "By the way, where is Sune?" Kankuro asked, Gaara had been wondering the same thing. He knew that she was either still here somewhere or she had left somehow without Raven or Suki noticing.

"I'll look," Gaara said as he left the room and started through the hallway. He noticed that all the doors were open so he just peeked in to see if she was there, but saw nothing but clean rooms and also noticed that all the boxes of files were neatly put into Yashamaru's old bedroom. He thought that was a good idea, nobody was using that empty room anyway.

When he got to his own room he entered it and saw Sune lying on the bed. It looked as if she passed out and fell there into that position. Gaara was about to leave her there and let her rest until Kankuro came and stood in the doorway.

"She's not in the office or laundry room," he told Gaara before noticing Sune. "Oh, is she okay?" he asked stepping into the room making the same observation Gaara did.

"She must have used up too much energy and chakra," Gaara noted and Kankuro nodded.

"Should I wake her up?" Gaara did not say anything so Kankuro went up to her. "Sune?" he tried. "You need to get up," he tried again before leaning over to shake her shoulder. Just as he started to do that her eyes snapped open and she jumped up, accidentally kicking Kankuro in the groin. He immediately bent over, but got punched in the face by Sune's ninja reflexes when he came towards her in her groggy state.

Sune blinked a few times before realizing what she had done. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she said jumping to her feet. "Are you okay?" she asked not sure what to do.

"I'll be fine…" Kankuro groaned from the floor.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"He'll be fine," Gaara said. "Go into the kitchen and wait for me," he ordered, "Now."

"Right," she said leaving the room thinking that she was going to get into trouble.

A few minutes later the Kazekage came into the kitchen now wearing his ninja pants (from shippuuden) and a black shirt instead of his Kazekage robes and told her to sit down.

She sat down at the table and he sat across from her. "Is he going to be alright?" she asked him.

"He'll be fine, Temari's done worse to him and he's recovered quickly," he said simply.

"Oh."

"You did an excellent job here," he praised, surprising her.

"It was nothing," she said embarrassed.

"You still got everything done on that list before the time I told you, correct?"

"Yes," she confirmed.

"And you even did a better job then I expected you to," he said. "And because I didn't expect you to be able to get it done, I didn't have a bonus prepared for you, so you will get something of your choice," he explained.

Sune was surprised and happy that she was able to impress the Kazekage, he didn't seem like one who was impressed easily. "I'll have to get back to you on that, I can't think of anything at the moment," she said truthfully.

"As long as what you decide isn't too extravagant," he said seriously.

"Of course, I would never do anything like that, don't worry," she smiled reassuringly and he nodded once before picking up the receipt off the table and going over it with her to make sure she did not try to pull something and have him pay for it.

"You purchased a package of hair-bands?" he said looking at the receipt.

"I found a ton of broken ones and I thought I should get some to replace them while I was at it for your… sister?" she explained guessing the last part.

"Yes, my sister Temari," he confirmed as he pulled out a check book and a pen. Normally he would send the checks, but he was trying to cut spending as much as he could for other matters, if that meant giving out the checks directly, he didn't have a problem with that.

Sune watched as he quickly filled out a check and handed it to her. She looked at it and her eyes widened in shock. She could tell that this one check was her pay and reimbursement added together but…

"Any questions?" she heard him say in a testing tone before looking up at him. She quickly got the hint it was no mistake and she put the check into her pouch.

"I do have one…" she answered.

"What is it?"

"Um, why are you living in the Kazekage building and not a house or mansion with seals and guards and special security?" Sune asked, it had been bothering her as to why and she thought she might as well ask.

There was a long pause. "That's confidential," he finally said.

"Confidential?" Kankuro said from the doorway before limping the rest of the way to the table. "Man, you sure do have some wicked ninja reflexes girl," he said looking at Sune as he slowly sat down. "And we're living here because the house was finally gutted about a year ago. Even though we've been here for quite a while, nobody knows we're here besides the high council members, Gaara's student, our assistants that you already met, and now you and some select guards and help-" Sune listened intently.

"Kankuro…" The Kazekage glared and Sune saw the fear in Kankuro.

"What? I feel we can trust her, it's not like it's that big of a secret," Kankuro explained and when his brother made no response he continued. "Anyway Sune, we're still working on the plans for the new house that will be more secure and efficient, the plans for it though have been going kind of slow because Gaara says it's not a priority and we'll get back to it when we fix some other things in the village first," he explained.

"That's neat," Sune smiled. "And noble," she added.

"That's Gaara for you," Kankuro grinned. Sune saw the Kazekage as he looked away embarrassed and thought he was cute like that before mentally scolding herself for thinking that. She was not wanting to get the hots for her boss, though she was already failing. She justified it by coming to the conclusion that she would rather take cute over repulsing.

"So," Kankuro started again. "How exactly did you do it?" he and Gaara both looked at Sune.

"How did I clean this disaster in only 8 hours?" she asked and they both nodded. "I used the shadow clone jutsu," she said simply.

"You can use that jutsu? Impressive," the Kazekage stated.

"Yeah, but I don't exactly have a ton of chakra so I can only use so many clones for so long otherwise it wears me out," she explained.

"Is that why you were asleep on my little brother's bed?" Kankuro asked.

Sune nodded, "I'm sorry about that, I went through to each room to make sure everything was done from that list, and I guess it was the last one I looked at and when I released the clones I sort of passed out after that…" she explained looking at the nice clean table in front of her.

"Glad you didn't hit the floor with a pretty face like that," Kankuro smiled. Sune was not sure if that was suppose to be a joke or what and she looked away slightly creeped out.

"Kankuro, that was inappropriate to say to someone you just met," Sune saw the Kazekage glaring at his brother.

"But it's true! Don't you think so?"

He sighed and did not answer his brother. "You are dismissed," he said to Sune.

Sune stood up, "Alright, I hope to be hearing from you soon about my next mission, goodnight," and with that she left and as she was closing the door she heard a loud thump and Kankuro yelp. She laughed.

Sune turned around to find Raven and Suki standing directly in front of her and gasped unexpectedly. Where did they come from?

"Would you like help finding the exit?" Suki asked in a friendly manner.

"No thank you," Sune smiled, "I know where it is." Raven and Suki both nodded and with that Sune left for home.


	4. Maybe it Was Fate

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 4**

**Maybe it Was Fate**

Soon Sune returned to an empty home and went to her room and plopped down on her bed. It was a long day and she wondered if her parents were coming home tonight or if they would take another shift at the hospital. She hoped they would not come home tonight so she would not have to make dinner or if they did, for them to bring some take-out.

Sune looked at the clock next to her bed, it was not even six o'clock yet. She decided to burn time by writing in diary about her last few days and her mission for almost a half an hour. Then she found herself drawing in her book. Again she drew him, the Kazekage, now that she knows that is who he is while thinking how funny the world can be sometimes. The drawing she had done of him before was titled 'the stranger I met today' and this one she title 'Gaara the Kazekage'.

"Meow," she heard next to her and she looked to see her cat Bo.

"Hey Bo!" she said as she picked him up and put him in her lap. "How's my good boy?"

"Meow," he gave a kitty smile as she rubbed his head, she smiled back. Bo walked to the foot of her bed and laid down and yawned. Sune watched his eyes disappeared behind dark circled as they closed and Bo took a nap.

Sune got up and went to the kitchen. She winced when she noticed a list of chores on the frig from her parents. She had enough with chores for the day. For the month. Nevertheless she looked at it and it turned out just to be a grocery list. Sune sighed in relief as she peeled it from the refrigerator. Before she left to go shopping she changed into a simple while dress that went to her knees, grabbed her purse with her check now in it, and headed out the door after locking it.

It did not take long to get the items from the list and a few more personal things she needed. Next, she decided to find the bank so she could deposit her check while she was out. Sune roamed the village still not very familiar with the layout, she found herself looking up towards the Kazekage building wondering which windows were the ones she had been working in earlier that day.

She was still looking at the building as she stepped around a corner to make her way down another street and not looking where she was going as she rounded the corner, she bumped into someone unexpectedly, "Oaf," she yipped as she took a step back. The other person said nothing.

"Oh sorry…" she looked up instantly to see none other then the Kazekage standing before her. "Gaa- er I mean Kazekage-sama," she bowed. "I'm sorry to bump into you like that… again," she apologized.

He looked at her, "Would you like some help?" he asked looking at the ground. Sune was confused but after looking at the ground she noticed she dropped the bags she was holding and everything spilled out onto the ground.

"Oh great!" she said sarcastically as she knelt down and started to gather her things. He helped, "You don't have to help me," she said to him, but he made no response and continued to help.

Sune had put a couple more items back into the bag and saw the Kazekage holding out another item for her to take. She looked at it and as she saw the small box with 'Tampax' on it she quickly grabbed it and shoved it back into the bag while turning bright red. He looked at her confused as they stood up, he actually doesn't even know what tampons are.

"Thank you," she mumbled still blushing.

"Are you looking for someplace again?" he asked.

"Um yes, I am."

"Would like help finding it?" he offered.

"Uh sure," she said, "I'm looking for the bank, and please don't tell me I'm standing right in front of it again…"

He shook his head, "It's this way," he said motioning the way she came from. "Come," he ordered and she hurried to walk next to him.

They walked quietly through the village. Sune stopped when she noticed that he stopped. "Excuse me one moment," he said before walking away from her. She waited while she watched him walk up to a little girl that was crying. She saw him kneel down to speak to the girl, and watched the little girl point to the roof above her and then Kazekage take a step back to look up there himself. He obviously saw something and a stream of sand rose up from the ground and up to the roof. In a matter of seconds Sune saw the sand come back down with a doll and place it in the girl's arms. The girls smiled and said something before he patted her on the head and telling her to go back home.

_~'Aw, that's so sweet…'~ _Sune thought as he walked back to her.

He noticed her smiling and looking at him oddly but shrugged it off. "Come," he ordered again and she walked with him.

They stopped again on the way when they saw a man struggling to carry and huge crate. Sune saw the man about to fall but the Kazekage sent sand to catch the man and take the crate from him and set it down next to him. The man thanked the Kazekage before they left again.

Gaara noticed Sune smiling at him again, "What?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," she said looking away from him. He was confused.

Sune saw a group of teen guys and as they walked past they whistled at her. She threw a glare at them that had no effect. Gaara noticed this and decided to help her out by also throwing a glare at them over his shoulder. The group of boys immediately stood to attention and bowed before running off. Sune had no idea that this was happening behind her.

Soon they were at the bank and he left saying that he would be seeing her soon about her next mission. She went in and made her deposit and then left for home. After putting away the things she just bought, she put some cat food in Bo's dish and left again to visit her parents at the hospital during their break.

As Sune entered the hospital she noticed there was not very much commotion about. It was calm with a few people sitting in the entrance area and a few nurses walking about. One of the nurses stopped her, "Hello Sune, are you heading to the break room again?" the girl asked.

"Yes I am," she nodded and smiled friendly before the nurse walked off and Sune continued down a hall.

As Sune turned around a corner she bumped into somebody again, "Oh sorry," she said looking up to see the Kazekage, again. "Oh it's you? We've got to stop doing that," she said blushing and embarrassed. She felt like an idiot walking into him three times now in not even the last two days.

He nodded slightly, "Agreed," he said making her feel more like an idiot.

"What are you doing here?" she asked trying to cover up her embarrassment.

"I was checking on a couple people that were injured on their last mission while gathering information about what happened, you?" he said quickly and quietly.

"Nothing important like that," she admitted, "I just came to say hi to my mom and dad if I can catch them on their break."

"Do you want me to call for them?" he offered.

"N-no, that's alright," she shook her head.

He nodded once. "Excuse me," he said as he stepped around her.

"Well see you the next time I run into I guess," she laughed nervously as he nodded again and walked away.

"I have got to watch where I'm going," Sune said to herself as she continued slowly through the hallway. "Maybe I'll have to start looking around corners or something first before I go around them," she stopped and put a hand over her still racing heart_. ~'This must be one of those times where Aunt Amarante would say the universe or the gods are trying to tell me something, but she would never tell me what…'~ _Sune turned to look towards the direction the Kazekage went, _~'He looked so sad'~ _

Sune continued through the hallway the short distance left to the break room. Her mother entered seconds after she did. "Hi, Sune dear," her mother said hugging her, "I saw you come in."

Sune smiled, "What's up?"

"Well, there was an incident involving three genin ninja," he mother sighed. "Apparently they walked into a trap, two of them have will be fine in a few days with their injuries, but the third is in critical condition," Sune made no response so her mother continued, "The Kazekage was just here, you might have seen him leaving as you were coming in."

Sune nodded, "Yes, I did," she said deciding not to mention that she walked into him for the third time.

"I overheard their conversation while treating one of the injured ninja, and the Kazekage was not too happy," her mother gossiped.

"He lectured them?" Sune guessed.

"No, not really," she answered. "He only said that it was his own fault for letting them go on that mission when they're still too reckless and inexperienced, and that he should have known better then to send them," her mother tried to explain as she sat down at a table.

"Why would he say something like that?" Sune asked.

Her mother shrugged, "This village can't afford to be losing young shinobi right now," she explained then sighed, "Being Kazekage must be a difficult job, wonder if he can handle it."

"Hmm?"

"That boy is only a little older than you," she said, "But I don't know much about him, so I can't really say much other then he's young."

"I noticed," Sune said, "That was all you and Dad said the day you got home from seeing him," Sune looked up to see her father entering the room.

"Good news," he said as he walked in. "We stabilized him, and he should wake up in a few hours," he said referring to the genin that was in critical condition.

"That's great," Sune and her mother said in unison.

"Sune, could you do something before you go home?" her father asked her.

"What is it?"

"Would you tell the Kazekage that all the genin will be fine? I would tell someone else to do it, but everyone has already headed home."

"Sure," she said standing up. "Are you taking an extra shift tonight?" she asked.

"Looks like it," her mother said. "We'll be coming home tomorrow."

"Okay, goodnight then and see you tomorrow," she said hugging each her parents and telling them she loved them before she left…

Meanwhile, Gaara walked up to the Kazekage building. He had to go to his office to take those three genin off active duty until he hears otherwise from the medical ninja. Looking up at the 'wind' symbol, he gathered sand around him and teleported himself to the balcony at the top of the building.

_'You should have killed those worthless beings…' _Shukaku growled, but Gaara ignored him. _'You can't suppress me forever…' _Gaara ignored him again as he walked to his office. _'One day, I will escape…' _Shukaku laughed.

Gaara knew where this was going and hurried to his sound proof office before he would go into another fit because of Shukaku, _~'I'll die before I let that happen!'~ _

Shukaku laughed, _'So the young Kazekage wants to protect the village! The very ones that shun and betray you… they all deserve what will come to them…' _Shukaku then laughed malevolently.

_~'Shut it!'~_ he tried as he ran into his office not realizing that the door did not close all the way. He closed his eyes as he placed his hands on the burgundy fabric on his desk as Shukaku started to show him some of his most unpleasant memories, _~'Stop it! It's not going to work, I'm stronger then that now!'~_

Shukaku laughed again, _"We'll see, boy… we'll see…" _He was having fun. Shukaku showed Gaara the betrayals of his father and Yashamaru, the villagers glaring at him with hateful eyes, then the thing Gaara hated the most right now. He stood waist deep in a pool of blood while hearing the screams of misery and suffering of his victims. This made him clutch his head as he fell to the ground and scream in agony…

Sune once again continued through the hall towards the Kazekage's office. _~'It's getting late, I wonder if he's even in his office,'~ _she thought wondering why this could not wait until morning. She went up to the door of the office noticing that it was still open a fraction, _~'I guess he is,'~ _she thought and as she reached for the handle she heard a terrifying scream pierce through the air. Sune immediately assumed the worst and without thinking she burst into the room seeing the Kazekage kneeling on the floor in front of his desk clutching his head with sand flowing throughout the room around him.

She stopped not sure what to do and he looked up at her with black and gold eyes, "L-leave…" he managed to say, "I… don't want you to get hurt if I lose control…" he told her painfully looking away and trying to suppress Shukaku.

_'I'll let it go… for now…' _Shukaku growled, _'You better be grateful to that wench…' _he managed to utter before being suppressed, leaving his Jinchuuriki confused.

Sune did not understand what was happening, she wanted to help even though she did not know how, but she also wanted to follow his orders. She stood silently as she watched the sand gather and retreat to a spot behind the desk and the Kazekage stood up and glanced at her with a look she could have sworn to be gratitude.

"Leave," he ordered quietly staring at the floor. Still not understanding she obeyed, forgetting the reason why she came in the first place.

She closed the door softly and turned to see Kankuro leaning against the wall next to her. "Come with me," he ordered and started walking. "What are you doing here?" he asked quietly but friendly. "It's getting late," he stated.

Remembering the reason Sune told him the good news.

"I see, that's good," he said stopping in the front room. "I'll tell him later when he's feeling better, he'll probably send Matsuri to finish the mission." There was a long silence. "You weren't suppose to see that," he told her.

"Umm," she started and Kankuro listened. "What… was 'that'… all about?" she asked unsure if was appropriate to ask.

"You don't know?" he asked surprised. "Oh wait, of course you don't, I knew that," he corrected himself. "Well Gaara is a jinchuuriki, do you know what that is?"

Sune nodded, "I think so, isn't that a person with a demon or bijuu?" she asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, Gaara had the one-tailed demon, Shukaku, sealed inside him before he was born and has had it ever since," he explained. "All I should really tell you is that is why he is alone, his power over sand, and his insomnia, if you want to know any more you'll have to ask him yourself."

She nodded sadly, "I had no idea… that's so sad," she sniffed. "Isn't there anything I can do?" she asked suddenly.

Kankuro thought for a moment, "I think there might be one thing," he smiled, "But we'll see how things work out first."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh nothing," he said shifty-eyed. "Well you should be getting home before it gets to dark, see you later, I'm going to check on Gaara," he waved and walked away leaving her confused.

"Humph fine," she pouted. "Maybe I will ask him and figure something out myself," she said leaving.


	5. Sisters

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 5**

**Sisters**

It was almost one week later, and Sune had got four more D-rank missions of cleaning at other homes. Sune was not happy about it either. She had not even got to meet the owners of the homes while she was there. Even more upsetting for her was hearing that she had been given yet another D-rank mission of nothing but cleaning. She had it.

"I'm not a maid! I'm a ninja!" she glared at the Kazekage from across his desk. He just looked at her, ignoring her complaints. He noticed there was nothing behind her glare. No real threat, applying the fear of death, anger, or anything. It was merely irritation. "Don't ignore me!" Sune whined but got no response. "Can't I get something where I can actually prove myself?"

He shook his head slightly, "Not yet, but soon, you are proving to be focused and determined."

"Well, well, not very often that I hear a compliment from you," a female voice said from the doorway and Sune turned to see a slightly older kunoichi with shorter blonde hair tied back in four separate bunches and a huge fan strapped to her back. Sune thought that she looked familiar. "Sorry if I'm interrupting, Gaara, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm back before you have to go to another meeting," she said walking in.

"Okay," he said and Sune remembered where she had seen this girl before, she had been in the pictures from the Kazekage's home.

The older girl noticed Sune staring at her. "Oh um, hi, I'm Temari," she introduced, "I haven't seen you around before, are you from another village?" she asked convivially.

Sune smiled at Temari and shook her head before pointing at her headband around her neck, "Actually, I'm suppose to be a Suna ninja…but right now I'm a maid…" she then glared at the Kazekage who wasn't paying attention.

Temari laughed, "Is that so? Well Gaara, why aren't you giving her any of the good missions?" he didn't say anything and Temari sighed. "Oh I see, there really isn't any others huh? Hey, could I see your mission form, uh…"

"I'm Sune," Sune answered and handed her the paper.

Temari looked at it then threw it over her shoulder, "Psh, you don't have to do this!"

"Hey," the Kazekage glared, pointing at the paper on the floor.

"Oops, I forgot," she said picking up the paper and putting it on his desk before turning to Sune, "Well I just got you the day off, now you can go do something fun," she grinned.

"Oh?" she said thinking. "What's something fun to do in Suna, I've only been here a few weeks now and haven't done any sight-seeing," she explained.

"Seriously?" Temari gasped. "Well as the Kazekage's older sister and as your superior, you will come with me and I will personally show you all of Suna!" she was excited.

"That sounds fun," Sune smiled and before she knew it she was being dragged out the door.

The two girls stopped in front of the door, "Wait here, I need to change and get something before we go," and with that she ran up a stairway. It was only maybe three minutes later when she came back wearing normal street clothes and carrying a hand bag. "Alright Sune, let's begin," she smiled. "This is the Kazekage building," she laughed, "But you already know that." Sune laughed too.

After about two hours Temari had taken Sune to a multitude of places and shops. The two were laughing uncontrollably at one point over the simplest joke about Kankuro's face paint and people were looking at them like they were crazy. The two were already feeling like sisters since neither of them ever had any. Soon it was time to get some lunch.

"Know any good places where we could stop and get a bite?" Sune asked as they walked.

"Of course!" Temari smiled, "What are you in the mood for?"

"Umm I don't know, I guess anything would be fine, I'm not much of a picky eater."

"Hmm, I know a great bento place!" Temari suggested.

"Sounds great."

They walked for about a minute before Temari noticed two girls coming in their direction, "Hey, it's Raven and Suki, you must know them, they're mine and my brothers' assistants," she said and Sune looked in the direction Temari was pointing, and sure enough they were there also in normal street clothes.

"Hey you two, what's up?" Temari said as she went up to them.

"Just doing some shopping on our day off," Suki said. "What's up?"

"I'm showing Sune around Suna because she hasn't done ANY sight-seeing yet."

"Oh that's cool," Suki smiled.

"There isn't to much to see yet, but if things go has planned, there will be in a few years," Sune heard Raven speak for the first time.

"True," Temari said. "Hey, you want to join us? Were going to the bento place, and then after I'm taking Sune shopping."

"Sure sounds great," Suki said and she and Raven joined the group.

In no time Sune saw a sign that said 'Ven's Bento' outside a café style restaurant. The first whiff of the food as they stepped in smelt so good. They each ordered something different. Temari got a spicy chicken bento, Raven got a teriyaki chicken bento, Suki got a beef yakitori bento, and Sune got a chicken yakitori bento. At one point during their lunch Sune got up to use the bathroom and when she came back the rest of them suddenly got quiet. Sune ignored it assuming they were either done talking about whatever they were talking about or they were talking about her.

"So Sune," Temari started as she sat back down, "What do you think of my brother so far?"

"I already told you that I think he's a little creepy the way he wears so much make-up," Sune explained.

"No my other one, my baby brother the Kazekage," Temari giggled.

"Oh," Sune said. "Um, I don't know… he seems to be emotionless, except for one time…" she trailed off remembering the night she found out what he is. She never did ask him about it, for some reason she felt she shouldn't because it might be inappropriate or like she would be butting into something that was none of her business.

"So Sune, tell us your story," Raven said obviously changing the subject while sharing a look with Temari and Suki.

"Um sure," Sune said nervously before starting, "Well, I would travel around with my parents because they are traveling medics. Then we went to live with my aunt Amarante while she was dying for a few years and I learned a lot from her. After she died we came here to Suna so I could continue my training as a ninja and once I get settled in, with a stable job and once I can find my own apartment or something, my parents are going to leave the hospital here to travel south in the Land of Wind to continue their work," Sune finished and quickly finished off the last of her meal now that she was done talking.

"What kind of skills do you have?" Suki asked.

"Just basic medical, the traditional forms included, I know the shadow clone jutsu, and then the other basic skills of a ninja," Sune said leaving one major thing out, "What about you guys?"

"I specialize in wind ninjutsu," Temari said, "Raven specializes in water, and Suki specializes in ice," she explained.

"Oh, that's neat!"

"Sune?" Raven started again, "Don't you have a kekkei genkai?" she asked catching Sune off guard. After Sune did not say anything she spoke again, "Just wondering because of your name, 'Ichinarwa', but you don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

Sune shook her head, "Actually, I don't mind," she said and they all looked at her, "Just don't freak out or anything…"

"We're the last people you need to say that to," Temari said and grinned reassuringly.

Sune took a deep breath before speaking. Sune's aunt told her not to tell people unless she trusted them. "I can hear people's thoughts, I'm a telepath," she said, "But I'm not that good at it and I almost never use it anymore."

"Why is that, I think that is the coolest ability to use in battle," Temari smiled.

"Well," Sune started. "It was been more troublesome than beneficial in my situation," she explained.

"Heh, 'troublesome'?" Temari laughed, "You sounded like a guy I know from Konoha."

Sune looked at her suspiciously, "Oh, and who might that be?" she asked noticing the looks on Raven's and Suki's face. "Mmm? Perhaps a boyfriend?"

"Why don't you read my mind and find out?" Temari suggested.

"One, you have to be thinking of it for me to hear it," Sune said holding up a finger happy that they were not shunning her. "Second, like I said, I don't use it anymore."

"I see," Raven said. "Instead of using your unique ability to keep from getting hurt in battle, you probably used it one time and were left with deep scars," she theorized.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Sune asked starting to get worried that she could read minds too or something.

"Research," she said simply. "Oh and I'm always right."

"Is that your kekkei genkai?" Sune asked.

"Uh no," Suki answered for her, "She just researches a lot, it's a part of her job."

"I see."

"OH! I have an idea!" Temari exclaimed loudly making people around look at her. "We should have a slumber party tonight!"

"Yeah!" Suki agreed. "Not at our place, it's a disaster zone right now," she laughed.

"Not to mention my cat gets pissed when we have company," Raven added.

"I don't think my parents will want us to be over at my place on such sort notice," Sune said.

"Okay we'll go to my place, my brothers won't mind and if they do too bad," Temari concluded. "But first we all have to shopping and get super cute outfits for tonight and tomorrow!"

"Yay, Shopping!" Sune and Suki exclaimed in unison.

"No, not shopping…" Raven pouted.

"Don't worry Raven," Suki said. "We'll be sure to get candy and junk food too!"

"And doughnuts?" Raven said crossing her arms.

They all laughed, "Yes, those too!" they all agreed before leaving to start their shopping.

"Don't you just love a girls day out?" Temari said walking out of a dressing room wearing a ball gown just for fun.

"Yeah!" Sune and Suki said modeling their outfits. Raven nodded but was sitting outside their dressing rooms with the bags of already purchased clothes.

The four girls were going from store to store while laughing and talking. For awhile they got Raven to join in and try stuff on for fun too. After about the eighth shop, Sune joined Raven in waiting because she too was tired and ready to stop. Temari and Suki were still going strong. Finally after ten shops they all went to the store and each picked out their choice of junk food. Sune got worried when Raven disappeared, but not even a minute later she noticed she was standing next to them again with a box of doughnuts. Temari said it was all on her when making the purchase and she pulled out a card and grinned.

~~~ Break ~~~

In the Kazekage's office, Gaara was searching his pockets and drawers. _~'Oh great, Temari found my credit card again… That is only suppose to be for important purchases!'~ _

~~~ Break ~~~

Soon the girls were coming up to the Kazekage building after stopping one last time so Temari could go into a movie rental store. She got 'John Tucker Must Die'. After arriving they put the food in the kitchen before going to change into their new clothes for the night. Temari was wearing a short nighty with lace trim at the top and bottom. Sune was wearing a purple, satin, low-cut, sleeveless night gown. Raven was wearing a blue tank-top with 'Life. Get One.' printed on the front with blue pajama bottoms with water drops all over them. Suki was wearing a silky pink, tank top with white snow flakes and white shorts with pink snowflakes.

At one point Kankuro had returned and did not know about the slumber party so he walked in and got beaten up by all of them for not knocking, even though he did not see anything he shouldn't have. Leaving Kankuro on the floor in the hallway the girls went to the living room to watch the movie, eat junk food, and drink soda. While they were watching the movie Kankuro had finally got up off the floor and walked by the living room, "Are those guys wearing thongs!" he shouted pointing at the TV with a disgusted expression. All the girls burst out laughing as he walked away mumbling, "I don't even want to know what kind of movie you're watching…"

"It's not like we'd watch the kind of stuff you're thinking of you sicko!" Temari shouted at her brother and threw an empty pop can at him as he was about to walk out the doorway, but it was caught by another hand on the other side just before it hit his head.

"I'm trying to encourage recycling…" Gaara said before tossing the can back to his sister.

"That is recycling, I was putting it to a new use by turning it into a projectile!" Temari argued.

"Just make sure to you clean up when you're done," he said as he left with Kankuro.

"Oh we will little brother," Temari said innocently before turning to the other girls, "Okay, girl talk time, let's go back to my room!" she said getting up and leaving with the others following her. Once they were settled in, Temari turned to Sune, "Alright spill it," she grinned.

"Um, you first," Sune smiled.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, you said something about a guy from Konoha, remember? I want to know if you like him or something, you never did deny that he's your boyfriend."

Temari blushed, "Well, he's not my boyfriend…"

"Do you want him to be?" Suki asked.

Temari brought her knees up to her face, "I don't know…"

"Who is he?" Raven asked and Temari mumbled something into her knees, "What was that?"

"…Shikamaru…"

"Shikamaru?" Suki said cringing. "I mean, oh, that's cool…"

"The thing is, he doesn't seem to be very interested in me, or girls, or anything besides clouds and board games…" Temari sighed.

"He might think the same about you, so you never know, he might come around," Raven suggested.

"Okay, I'm done talking about that, I want to hear about Sune!" Temari said and they all focused on Sune.

"Fine…" she sighed. "I guess I should start from when I first started living with my aunt," she started, "A few years ago my Aunt Amarante was dying so me and my parents moved in with her during her last years and took care of her while her health degenerated. Everyone told me that I was so much like her, but I didn't think so, she was wise, kind, and strong. Even when she couldn't walk anymore and could barley speak above a whisper she was still all of those things… When I turned fourteen I start hearing things, voices, I thought I was going crazy and so I didn't want to tell my parents. After only a week, the voices were too much for me to handle so I went to my aunt and she told me that I have a rare kekkei genkai of telepathy, even for our family… because many generations ago our clan was destroyed by those who feared us, and so only a few of the carriers of the telepathic gene were left. Apparently, she had it too. I was glad I wasn't the only one and she was able to teach me how to make it stop and how to hear people's thoughts by my own free will… but…" Sune stopped unsure if she really wanted to talk about it.

"You can tell us…" Temari urged.

Sune nodded deciding that maybe it would help to tell somebody and get it off her chest. "You see, while I was there, I was practicing the art of the ninja and I even joined a team there that was doing the same, just local missions of guard duty and such. Their names were Yura and Yoshiko. Yura was everything I wasn't, in my eyes she was pretty, smart, and confident. I looked up to her as my best friend but… after I started dating Yoshiko, things changed."

"You dated your teammate?" Suki said. "That must have worked out great from the looks of it…" she said sarcastically.

"At the time it seemed like a good idea," Sune shrugged. "He was cute, he had dark blue hair that made his light blue eyes stand out that much more," Sune sighed remembering the way he looked at her that made her heart skip a beat. The feeling was quickly replaced with loathe, "At first he didn't seem to notice me and then he was so nice to me all of a sudden. I thought it was because we had spent so much time together when training and such."

"You thought?" Raven asked and Sune nodded.

"I guess I never did like the way things were going, as I got closer to my boyfriend, I was becoming farther apart from my best friend… This was about when things started getting bad and I started hearing the voices, people thoughts… Thoughts are better left private… One day while I was about to leave my team to go home after training I heard both of them say something, I forget exactly what it was, they something like I was 'weak, stupid, and a burden', I remember how shocked and angry I felt… well I turned around and something along the lines of 'how could you?'… well it turned out they didn't say anything at all… I heard their thoughts instead…"

"Oh my gosh," Temari said covering her mouth with one hand.

"After that, they both thought I was insane… I tried to explain to them what really happened, I even told them that I wouldn't be mad at them because you can't control your own thoughts… but they didn't care and they went around telling everybody about what I could do so… everyone shut me out because they were afraid me. After I gained the control I needed over my abilities I went to talk with each of them. Yura said she was jealous that I got the guy she liked all along, and said that I was worthless and a waste of time… she hated me and I didn't understand why, I still don't. Yoshiko told me that he was only with me because Yura was playing hard to get, that he lied when he told me that he loved me…"

"That bastard…" Raven cursed.

They all nodded in agreement and Sune continued, "I still cannot believe that I was so blind, and they both broke my heart… After that mess I didn't go out much, my family understood the reasons. I just stayed with my Aunt Amarante and she taught me all sorts of things because my skills as a medical ninja were limited at best. Before she died she told me that she knew something better was going to come along and in Suna I would be happy… So far I'm doing alright but it still hurts to think about how stupid and naive I was to let myself be betrayed so easily…"

"I agree with your Aunt Amarante," Suki smiled and held up one finger. "Here you will be successful and happy with our help!"

"Thank you," Sune smiled. "You know, I feel kinda lame talking so much about myself, all that is in the past now, I want to hear about you guys!"

"Now that I think about it…" Temari started. "I don't really know a whole lot about you two," she said pointing at Raven and Suki.

"That will have to wait for another day," Raven said simply. The rest of the night they played music and made jokes until they decided to call it a day and get some sleep.


	6. Friends

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 6**

**Friends**

_~Sune walked alone through the streets as people talked and laughed around her. There were lights and games and shows all around, but she was not interested in any of them. Sune looked up to see the very people she wanted to be with but run away from at the same time. They saw her standing and watching them, but immediately looked away and turn in the opposite direction. Sune made no move to go after them, she had learned already that nothing she could do would make a difference…~_

Sune opened her eyes and looked around. It was still dark in Temari's bedroom. Sune yawned and stretched before standing up. She was thirsty so she made her way through the dark hallway to the kitchen. She felt around and found the light switch before turning it on. Sune turned to see Gaara the Kazekage sitting at the table with a glass of water and a file. They both froze and looked at each other. She had not been expecting to see somebody sitting in the dark about to take another drink of their water.

"What are you still doing here?" he ask putting his glass down.

"That's the idea of a slumber party," she said slightly offended. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"I can't sleep," he said as he looked back down at the file.

"Try warm milk," she suggested.

"That's not what I mean."

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

He looked at her, "It's none of your concern," he said before turning back to the file. Sune was not going to let him off that easy, Kazekage or not, so she sat in a seat next to him and purposely stared at him. "What?" he asked.

"I wanna know why you can't sleep, bad dreams?" she theorized.

"No."

Sune continued to stare at him while remembering about the dark circles around his eyes and Kankuro saying something about insomnia. "Do you ever sleep?" she asked curious.

"No," he said again.

"Why not?"

"It's none of your concern," he said again.

"If you tell me I'll be your friend," she grinned, but he ignored her. "Don't you want to be my friend? I wanna be your friend," she said forcing tears to her eyes. This time he looked at her through the corner of this eye but did not say anything. She smiled and started poking the love kanji on his forehead repeatedly.

"Why did you come in here?" he asked starting to get irritated.

"I forgot," she said simply and grinned, her pale green eyes twinkling with amusement.

He sighed, "Stop that."

"Not until you tell me why you can't sleep, I wanna know…" Sune whined and continued to poke him as he ignored her.

After a couple minutes of being poked in the forehead he sighed, "Fine…" he said as he closed the file he was trying to read. "If you really want to know," he started and she stopped poking him, "If I ever sleep the demon inside me will take over and reap destruction on everyone and everything around me…"

Sune was amazed, "Wow…" she finally said, "You are just full of surprises aren't you?"

"You aren't scared?"

She looked at him surprised, "Uh no," she said, "Why would I be? I mean you've gone this long without sleeping, why should I worry you might fall asleep now and go all demony?" he did not respond. "You sure must get a lot done without the need to sleep getting in the way," she stated.

"I guess," he said getting up to leave the room and Sune now realized that he wasn't completely dressed and blushed slightly.

_~'Is that why he didn't leave while I was poking him?'~ _She thought embarrassed and trying not to look at the plain colored boxers as he left.

He stopped in the in the doorway, "What?" he asked suddenly making Sune jump and blush even more before she heard Temari's voice.

"I noticed Sune was gone and the light is on, is she in there?" Temari asked her brother and he nodded and left.

"Hey," Temari said coming in. "What's up?"

"I woke up and decide to get a drink of water," Sune said as she stood up to get a glass.

"Mm-mmm…" Temari hummed sarcastically.

"What?" she asked while filling the glass.

"You sure about that?" Temari accused.

"I don't understand," Sune said before taking a drink.

Temari raised an eyebrow, "You and my little brother seem to get along pretty well."

"What do you mean? How is that considered 'well'?" Sune asked sitting down again.

"For one he didn't ignore you completely," Temari explained sitting down next to her. "And… that is something he'd usually only say to somebody before he'd kill them…" Temari trailed off.

"Well that's not very nice…" Sune shrugged. He is the Kazekage, if he was going to kill her, he would have already done so, and he would not be the Kazekage in the first place.

"You have no idea how much he's changed in the last few years," Temari smiled. "And he's still changing, for the better, and someday under his leadership, Suna will prosper again."

"That's wonderful," Sune smiled. "People sure do seem to have a lot of respect for him," she stated.

"I wish that he would realize that…"

"Huh?"

Temari shook her head, "No nothing, I'm going back to bed now, you coming?"

"Um yeah," Sune said before following Temari back into her room and falling into a peaceful sleep the moment her head touched her pillow wondering about the future.

Sune awoke to see that she was alone in the bedroom. She got up and put on her new outfit for the day. It was a short yellow sundress with white flowers around the bottom. She went into the living room to find Raven and Suki watching Saturday morning cartoons and laughed slightly before joining them. They were also wearing their new outfits, matching baby doll tops but Raven's was red and Suki's was pink and with matching pants. She listened amused as they over analyzed the cartoon's story before she realized an awful smell coming from the kitchen.

"What's that smell?" Sune finally asked.

"Temari is making breakfast," Suki replied.

"Attempting to make breakfast," Raven added.

"What is she making?" Sune asked covering her nose.

Raven and Suki looked at each other. "I think she said something about pancakes," Suki answered.

"That is not pancakes!" Sune said standing up.

"Where are you going?" Suki asked.

"I'm going to help, it's just too sad for me to sit and doing nothing about this…"

After Sune left Raven turned to Suki, "I was just going to wait until Temari gave up and we just go out to eat," she said.

"Me too, I wonder if Temari will even let Sune help?" Suki shrugged.

"Who knows…" Raven said turning back to the TV. "It's back on."

Sune walked into the kitchen to see Temari humming as she burned pancakes. "Would you like some help?" Sune offered.

Temari looked at her leaving another pancake to burn, "No I'm fine."

Sune was not going to let this go. "No I insist, you've been so kind to me," Sune tried as what was once a pancake suddenly burst into flames.

"Aw man not another one!" Temari groaned as she put out the fire with ease.

Sune decided to take another approach. "Here let me try," she said putting on an apron to over her new dress while pushing Temari aside and taking over. After some clean up and making Temari sit down at the table out of the way, Sune soon started to fill the room with a delightful aroma. As Sune started placing the new finished pancakes on plates, Raven and Suki popped their heads into the kitchen.

"What is that smell? It smells good!" Suki said.

"Chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes," Sune grinned.

"Yummy!" Raven and Suki said walking in.

"How many do you want?" Sune asked and they told her as she handed each of them a plate with a small stack of pancakes. "How about you Temari?" she asked before placing more on a plate.

Soon the guys came in, "Wow, what smells so good?" Kankuro asked.

"I'm making chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes," Sune smiled, "How many do you want, get them while they're hot!"

Soon she placed a plate in front of each of them. Raven and Suki took their plates back into the living room to watch more cartoons. Sune watched as Temari ate slowly and neatly, Kankuro stuffed his face, and Gaara just looked at the steaming plate. _~'He doesn't like them…'~ _She thought disappointed as she turned around to grab her plate.

When she turned around, Gaara was holding out an empty plate. "Want more?" she asked him smiling and he nodded.

"Coming right up!" she said happily and put more on the plate and putting it back in front of him. After that she joined Raven and Suki to watch cartoons.

"The Chunin exams are coming up soon, do you think you're going to take it Sune?" Raven asked as Sune sat down.

"Um I'm not sure, I'd have to do a lot of training first," Sune responded before she ate.

"If you want we can help you with your training," Suki offered.

"Really? Thanks, that would be great," Sune smiled.

"We have today and tomorrow off, if you want we can train later," Suki suggested.

"Yeah," Sune nodded. "What are you two good at that you could help me with?"

"We specialize in genjutsu and our elemental chakra ninjustu," Raven answered.

Sune nodded, "Right, water and ice right?" They both nodded in response, "What kind of genjutsu?" she asked.

"It may sound kind of funny," Suki started, "But Raven has, what has been given the name of, the Death-glare jutsu and I have the Persuasion jutsu." Sune laughed.

"It comes in handy during interrogations," Raven added.

"You're interrogators too?" Sune asked, "You two sure do seem to have a lot of duties." Raven and Suki looked at each other before looking back at Sune and both nodded reluctantly. "So by what I know you're active kunoichi, interrogators, schedulers, documenters, sensei's, tour guides-"

"Hey we're not tour guides, we did that by choice," Raven said.

"Well is there anything you don't do?" Sune asked.

They look at each other again, "We don't water plants…" Raven said.

"Or baby-sit…" Suki added.

Sune raises an eyebrow, _~'For now, I bet…'~_

"Since we work for all three of them," Raven started.

"We're always kept busy," Suki finished.

"If you don't mind me asking," Sune started. "How come you work for all of them?" she asked.

"We owe them," Raven said simply.

"So we will do everything and anything they ask of us," Suki added.

"Until our debt is repaid or until they no longer desire our services," Raven finished just before the sand siblings walked by and towards the door.

"Where are they going?" Sune asked.

"Today is Saturday so Gaara-sama and Temari have to go over the plans for the Chunin exams before she leaves for Konoha again, after that they have a meeting with the other Jonin, then they will probably try to train for a while before they have to go to another meeting," Suki explained. Sune nodded before picking up the plates and doing the dishes and cleaning up the mess still left from when Temari tried to cook.

"Where are we going to go for training?" Sune said enthusiastically as they left the building.

"The training ground," Suki answered.

Soon they were standing in the center of the training ground, "To start, do you want to learn more about elemental or genjutsu?" Raven asked.

"Elemental," Sune answered.

"Okay, what is your primary chakra element type?" Raven asked.

"My what?" Sune said confused.

Raven and Suki both dropped their heads. After some explaining, Sune knew all about each of the five chakra elements and she was about to find out her own chakra element after they gave her a piece of special paper and told her to focus her chakra on it. The paper had suddenly crinkled between her figures.

Raven and Suki looked up and smiled. "You're in luck, you are a lighting type," Suki said.

"In luck?" Sune asked.

"My secondary chakra element in lighting," Raven answered. "If you were a fire or earth type we wouldn't be much help to you."

"How come?"

"I'm water and wind," Suki started. "And Raven is water and lighting, so that is what we know about and what we can help you with."

"Oh I see," Sune said understanding. After four hours of nonstop training Sune could create and string of lighting between her hands, "Hey! I'm doing it! I'm doing it!" Sune exclaimed watching the flickering thread of lighting.

"Well done, you're a fast learner," Raven praised.

"What's next?" Sune asked eagerly.

"Next, you make a circle between your hands, then you should have an easier time releasing it from your hands in any direction you want," Raven explained.

"But first," Suki said. "It's lunch time! Can't be training on an empty stomach!"

"Agreed," the other two said.

At a yakiniku, Sune was thinking about the last couple days and how much everyone had done for her. "Um hey," she started to get the other's attention, "I just wanted to thank you for everything, you've been so nice to me."

"Think nothing of it," Raven said placing some meat on the grill in the middle of the table.

"Yeah, what are friends for?" Suki added before taking a drink from her glass.

"Friends?" Sune repeated.

"Of course, us and Temari too," Suki said.

"You're a good person and we respect that," Raven added.

Sune smiled, "Same goes for all of you too! And now that we're friends I guess you'll be treating me to lunch today!" she grinned.

Raven and Suki looked at each other then back at Sune, "Nice try," they said.


	7. An Unexpected Encounter!

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 7**

**An Unexpected Encounter! **

A few days later, Sune was training alone using some books Raven and Suki gave her so they could work and she could still train. Later as she walked to the Kazekage's office, Sune remembered that Temari was going to be leaving tomorrow morning for Konoha and she decided that she would have to remember to see her off. Sune made her way into the office to hear what her next mission was and she hoped it would be something good for once.

"What? Nothing? But I've been training really hard," Sune argued trying to glare at the Kazekage. "How am I suppose to prove myself if you don't give me any Real missions?" she pouted.

"You'll get that chance soon," he said. "You are already proving yourself just by striving to be better," he praised looking at a file sitting in front of him not noticing her blush.

"Then when will I get a real mission?" Sune whined crossing her arms.

"Maybe sooner then we thought…" he said looking up at from the file.

"Huh?" Sune said leaning over the desk to see the file, it was a mission request.

"You should return home and prepare yourself for a mission," Gaara informed, "You will be leaving the village-"

"Yes!" Sune shouted suddenly making him jump slightly in his chair.

"And you are to wait there until I send your team with the information you will be needing…" He trailed off as he noticed she was not even listening. Sune was jumping up and down clapping her hands in joy and excitement.

Sune ran around his desk and hugged him tightly while he was still sitting, "Thank you, thank you Kazekage-sama!" When she was not letting go, he started to try to pry her off of him, "Oh sorry," she apologized letting go of him and saw him take a ragged breath for oxygen. "Um…" she started not sure what to do so she smoothed out the sleeves of his red coat.

"You are dismissed for your preparation," he finally ordered.

"Right," she said trying not to blush in embarrassment. Sune mentally scolded herself for her humiliating impulses as she left the building. It was embarrassing enough to do that kind of stuff, but in front of the Kazekage of all people seemed worse. As she walked home she decided to stop by the place she had been training to pick up the kunai and books she left there this morning before she forgot and left them to get stolen while on the upcoming mission.

Sune walked through the unusually empty streets to the training area excited about her upcoming mission and hoping that it would not be a disappointment. She was about to start humming before an unwelcome shiver suddenly coursed through her entire body. Sune grew worried as she continued walking. She felt like she was being watched and soon like she was being followed. There was an ominous presence around her so she began walking faster to her destination remembering that is where her kunai are.

Sune had stepped into the open training area when a wisp of sand flew by her face. She whipped around to find a senbon just inches away from her chest being stopped in midair by a small amount of sand. She stared at it confused before she felt her bangs fall over her right eye. She reached up and felt her hair realizing that her clip was gone and all that was left was the small piece of metal that slipped through her fingers to the sandy ground below her feet.

The senbon fell to the ground along with the sand that prevented it from hitting her. She looked up as a young man jumped down onto the sandy surface and looked at her with familiar eyes. Sune's heart lunged into her throat as she realized who it was. That dark blue hair that covered his forehead, tan complexion, and piercing light blue eyes, she would know it anywhere.

"Y-Yoshiko…" Sune stuttered unable to tear her eyes away from one of the people responsible for breaking her heart.

"Sune," he said in a now deeper tone then she remembered. "That was my only senbon, it was suppose to put you to sleep so I could take you back to our village, I hope that you will come with me anyway," he said in a reserved familiar manner.

Sune shook her head keeping eye-contact, "I can't do that," she said firmly wondering why he attacked before asking. She no longer got lost in his eyes like she use to.

"Why is that?" he asked with a hurt expression. "Is it because of your job here? Because you have a duty to this village and to its Kazekage? Do you even know what the Kazekage of this village is, Sune?" he asked rhetorically starting to glare, she started to glare as well. "You shouldn't work for that guy. Did you know that he's only fifteen? That's younger than me, he isn't even qualified to be a Kage."

"Age has nothing to do with it," Sune defended. "He's a good person and the people respect and look up to him, I'm happy to be of service to him however I can…" she tailed off blushing slightly remembering all the times the Kazekage has offered to help her.

"Sune?" Yoshiko started, "If I didn't know better, I'd almost say that you're in love with the Kazekage," he retorted. Sune was caught off guard by this and did not know what to say. She thought about what the gods might have been trying to tell her, and why her heart races and she suddenly gets butterflies every time he looks at her, could that be it? "Heh, I didn't think so," Yoshiko said arrogantly, "He's a monster, who could ever love a monster?"

"Stop it!" Sune shouted wanting to cry, he had no right to say such things, "He's not a monster Yoshiko, you are!"

Yoshiko smirked and held up his hands defensibly, "Sune, Sune, I know we had a couple bumps in the road, but that was uncalled for, still, I need you to come back with me, your… ability, is invaluable to us," he explained. "I thought if I came here to see you, that we could make up," he obviously lied as he changed his story, Sune began to shake with rage. "You should come back with me and leave this dying village and its corrupt Kazekage," he said noticing her glare as he insulted the Kazekage, "Unless do really do have feeling for h-,"

"Yes I love him!" Sune shouted too close to tears and still shaking.

"Now that just breaks my heart," Yoshiko dropped his head slightly and looked at her, "Oh look more senbons, you won't be able to block these ones…" he smirked as be pulled out a two handfuls before throwing them. Sune reached for the kunai strapped to her leg but when she realized she wasn't wearing it, it was too late to dodge. She was defenseless and without hope.

A curtain of sand flew in front of her, protecting her from the barrage of senbons. At first she did not realize what was going on when all she could see was sand. Her eyes went wide as her heart lunged, her stomach churned, and her legs became weak while the rest of her body froze when she realized who it was.

"By attacking one of my shinobi, you are to face me as well…" The Kazekage said is a low sinister tone as he stepped forward in front of Sune with is arms folded over his chest.

Sune stood unable to move, "K-Kazekage-s-sama…" she managed to whisper.

Yoshiko looked overly cocky but took a step back, "So you're the Kazekage, look, I didn't come here to fight, I just want to take her back," he said pointing at Sune.

The Kazekage glared at Yoshiko, "She obviously does not want to go with you therefore I cannot let you do that…"

"Humph! Guess I will have to fight-" Yoshiko started but was cut off when sand rapped around him from below and behind covering his mouth and binding his body. Temari and Kankuro jumped next to Sune.

"Sune, are you alright?" Temari asked quietly and Sune nodded not able to look away from the scene in front of her.

"Gaara wait," Kankuro said running next to his brother, "We can't hurt him yet, we have to take this guy in for questioning," Kankuro explained.

"I know that Kankuro…" Gaara said. "Raven, Suki!" he called before the two jumped down.

"Yes?" they bowed respectfully.

"Get those senbons to be inspected and get somebody to take this one in," he ordered, "I want to know what is going on within the hour."

"Right away," they said before disappearing and reappeared with bag to start collecting the senbons and a couple guards that tied up Yoshiko and took him away.

"This isn't over…" Yoshiko murmured to Sune as he was taken.

She did not say anything as the Kazekage turned to look at her. "Are you injur-?" he started but Sune was already walking away.

Sune forced her legs to move herself to the corner of the open space to pick up the items she originally came for and left for home. She walked slowly and turned her head to see the Kazekage pick up something off the ground. She quickly looked away when she saw him begin to look her way.

_~'Did they hear all of that!'~ _Sune thought as she walked, _~'I am glad I was save but… why did it have to be him? Did he hear what I said? Why am I so stupid? I didn't need to say that!'~ _Sune walked into her room and started getting ready. She wondered why Yoshiko came all the way to Suna and why he said that he had to bring her back. She remembered that he said that her ability was invaluable, _~'Why would they want the ability that they hated so much not too long ago?'~ _she wondered as she packed her bag and ninja pouch. She strapped her kunai to her leg and thought about what she had practically shouted for the whole world to hear and slapped herself in the forehead, _~'He must think I'm so weird!'~ _She looked up out the window, _~'But maybe he didn't get there soon enough to hear it, maybe he only got there in time to save me…'~ _She thought hopefully.

Soon she heard the doorbell. Sune got up and quickly went to the door. She opened it to see Raven and Suki standing there each with their ninja gear and packs, "Guess who your team is?" Suki grinned.

"Um who?" Sune joked, she knew it was them.

"It's us!" Suki said. "Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yeah, let me get my bag," Sune said before she ran back to her room to get it. Before leaving she wrote a note to her parents for when they got home telling them she would be out on a real mission and that she doesn't know when he would be getting back. Once she got to the door she grabbed her desert cloak and left with the other two.

"What's our mission?" Sune asked as they walked through the village.

"We are going to the rebel Kunoichi village at the north most part of the Land of Wind," Raven explained, "That's why we are a team of kunoichi, no shinobi allowed."

"What do you mean, 'no shinobi allowed'?" Sune asked.

"It means if you have man parts, they won't let you in," Raven explained, "They think men are pretty much evil and are responsible for almost all corruption and wars."

"I see," she responded, "Why are we going there?"

"Now that Gaara-sama is the Kazekage," Suki started, "He is working on a peace treaty with them because his father, the last Kazekage, was still on bad terms with them before he died."

"His father was also the Kazekage?" Sune asked and they both nodded.

They were about to leave the village when they stopped and Raven turned to Sune, "Okay, we are going to be on at least a ten day leave, do you have everything you need before we go?"

Sune nodded, "Sure do," she said putting down her pack and putting on her cloak to protect herself from the sand and sun. The other two did the same before picking up their packs and making sure everything was present and situated.

"Oh we almost forgot," Raven said looking at Suki.

"Oh yeah," Suki started, "Gaara-sama said you dropped this and to give it back to you," she said pulling out the same clip she had with the shape of a gourd of sand on it.

Sune smiled and took it, "Thank you," she said slipping it into her hair to pull her bangs out of her face. _~'He must have fixed it… again.'~_

"Don't thank us, thank him when we get back," Suki shrugged before she and Raven turned to leave the village. Sune followed close behind as she began her first real mission as a Suna ninja.


	8. Kunoichi Village: And Trouble In Suna

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 8**

**Mission to Kunoichi Village: And Troubles in Sunagakure!**

By the end of three days of nearly nonstop travel, the group finally stopped to set up camp for the entire night. Sune was exhausted, but did not want to complain or slow down the group. She felt she was lucky to have toughed out the travel as long as she did, because she had never traveled that far, that fast, with that few of breaks before.

It was getting close to sunset and after finding a nice shaded place in the trees near a spring, Raven and Suki told Sune to start the campfire while they set up the tent and got water. In no time the fire was burning and everything was set. Sune sat quietly while staring into the flames thinking about the journey still to come, next they were to go up a small mountain range before they could reach their destination of Kunoichi Village. So far they encountered no enemy ninja so there were not many troubles to deal with. Despite the journey being a little rougher then Sune was use to, she was glad that the Kazekage assigned her to it.

Being outside the village helped Sune forget about the events that occurred before she left for the mission. Every time she thought about it, she was left with questions. Did he hear what she said? What happened to Yoshiko? What is going to happen when she returns? Will she have to confront him about it or will she be able to put it behind her and pretend that it never happened? Sune sighed heavily and unconsciously ran her hand through her hair and hoped she would be able to wash up soon. Again she thought back to him and sighed. She brought her knees up to her chin before fiddling the clip in her hair.

"You know," Raven started bringing her out of her thoughts, "The sand in the clip will protect you from at least one hit, and Gaara-sama can sense when it is activated so he can come and help if anything happens," she explained. Sune realized that is what stopped that first senbon from hitting her when Yoshiko attacked, how the Kazekage knew where she was, and how he got there just in time to save her.

"But it has a limited range," Suki started, "It'll work in the village but all the way out here you're on your own."

"Why didn't I know about this?" Sune asked after thinking about it.

Raven and Suki shrugged, "While we're here do you want to do some more training?" Suki asked Sune.

"That would be beneficial," Sune said standing up before she looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set so she would only be able to get a little training in before nightfall.

~~~ The Village ~~~

Back in Sunagakure the Kazekage stood on the roof of the Kazekage building watching the sun start to set. It had been a long day even though he still had one more meeting to attend regarding the Akatsuki and foreign relations. The temperature was quickly dropping as the wind picked up. Gaara could sense Baki coming his direction.

"Kazekage-sama the meeting is soon," Baki said kneeling respectfully.

Gaara looked back through the corner of his eye, "Okay," he said to his former sensei.

~~~ The prison ~~~

Yoshiko lounged on the cot in his cell while staring out the small barred window watching the sky turn orange with the sunset. He wondered why he has not been interrogated or taken to be tried. Now he so was bored out of his mind that he almost wanted something to happen, anything. He was able to pass the time by picking on the guards every once in a while, but most of them ignored him.

Yoshiko groaned and sat up, "Hey you," he ordered a guard outside the door.

"What do you want now?" the guard said harshly.

"Easy buddy, I just have a question," Yoshiko said defensively.

"What is it?" the guard ordered.

"When am I getting out of here? I mean seriously, I can't be in that much trouble if nothing has happened to me for three days," Yoshiko explained.

"A couple of our top interrogators have personally requested to be the ones to deal with you," the guard explained harshly, "Unfortunately they are on a mission right now and the Kazekage ordered to keep you in confinement until they get back."

"Psh, that young Kazekage," Yoshiko glared, "Why doesn't he come down here a deal with me himself, or can he cannot handle that? I can't believe you people actually follow that guy."

"Don't be so arrogant and naive kid," the guard said darkly, "If the Kazekage were to deal with you personally… he just might be the last thing you see," he said trying to inflict fear into Yoshiko.

Yoshiko saw right through it, "Humph, just what I can expect from a monster," he said smugly.

The guard looked royally pissed off when another guard came and told him it was time to switch shifts. Yoshiko smirked as he watched the guard leave reluctantly. He then turned and plopped back down on his cot before flipping his hair out of his eyes and putting his hands behind his head. He knew the Kazekage was not a guy to mess with, and that he had to put his escape plan into action soon. Now that he thought he knew how to start, he would go for it tonight.

~~~ The mission ~~~

At the girls' camp site, Raven prepared the meal while Suki supervised Sune as she attempted to make a circle of lighting between her hands using her chakra element and shape manipulation. Unfortunately she was not having much luck getting it to work at all. Sune finally gave up and looked to Suki.

"It doesn't seem you're improving any more," Suki observed. "You should move on to something else for now and better your other skills before going back and trying the shape manipulation," she suggested.

"Like what?" Sune asked.

"Um, how many shadow clones can you make?"

"Up to seven…" Sune admitted.

"Try making eight," Suki suggested. Sune nodded and focused her chakra to make the clones. In a large puff of smoke, eight clones appeared. Sune was overjoyed, but did not let it go to her head and tried again. Next she made nine clones appear around her. She had been aiming for ten, but it looked like nine was her new limit.

"Well done," Raven praised, "But it's time to stop training and come and eat."

After the group finished, Sune wanted to train again. Raven told Sune to try the lighting circle again to see if there was any improvement. No such luck.

After some thought Suki had an idea, "How about you practice your mind reading ability?"

"It would be very beneficial in battle," Raven added.

Sune thought for a second not sure if she wanted to try. "Okay," she agreed, "I'll give it a shot, what should I do?"

"What's your range?" Raven asked but Sune shrugged and shook her head, "Do you have to be looking at or be near the person for it to work?" she asked Sune.

"No, I don't have to look at them," Sune said remembering how the incident with Yoshiko and Yura started, "But I do have to have seen them and know there general location, I've tried it by looking at a picture once but it didn't work because I had no clue where they were," Sune explained.

"So basically you'd be able to read our minds but not Temari in Konoha or Gaara-sama in Suna?" Suki said.

Sune shook her head, "I don't know where Konoha is, but if the Kazekage was in the Kazekage-building, I might be able to," she explained.

"You should try," Suki suggested.

After some thinking, Sune sat down, closed her eyes, and started to focus. Soon she could feel that section of her mind flying, searching for its destination. First Suna, and after concentrating a little more, to the Kazekage building and she found what she was looking for. "He's in a meeting…" Sune said out loud, "Something about 'Akatsuki'? And…" she was loosing her hold because of the long distance, "…And there's a fly on the wall," she finished before opening her eyes and taking a few deep breaths. "I'm sorry, I lost my hold," she apologized.

"Impressive for such a long ways away," Suki praised.

"Once you feel up to it, you could try again and see if you can hold on any longer," Raven suggested. Sune agreed but was embarrassed to be reading 'his' mind of all people. Suddenly Sune got the urge to slap herself in the forehead as she again thought about what happened before she left the village.

After a short break, Sune told the other two she was ready to try again. Raven and Suki stood nearby waiting for Sune to say something. They watched as Sune began to look confused even with her eyes closed. Then her brow furrowed momentarily before she opened her eyes. She looked back and forth at the ground as if she did not know what to do.

"What is it?" Suki finally asked.

"At first I had trouble finding him," Sune started looking worried. "And then, I think he's in battle over the village, the village is in trouble!" she said jumping up.

"I see," Raven started thinking, "If the village is in trouble then there's not much we can do right now." Sune did not like the thought of that but knew it was true, by the time they got back to the village it would be too late.

"Yeah, and we shouldn't worry too much anyway," Suki said. "He's the Kazekage for a reason, he'll protect the village with his life no matter what," she reassured her.

"How about you try Kankuro, and see if he knows what's going on," Raven said.

"Okay I'll try," Sune said before closing her eyes and focusing again. She found him a lot quicker then she thought she would. "He's watching the battle in the sky, and he's worried," Sune stated before focusing a little more to keep her hold on his mind. Sune had small smile as Kankuro thought about a conversation he had with his younger brother that had to have been a few years ago. Kankuro was not losing hope even as his worry grew and he wished there was something he could do to help. Sune forced herself to hold on longer but jumped and lost her focus completely when there was a huge explosion occurred as the village was protected by a giant shield of sand. Sune told the other two what happened. Even though they were still worried they told themselves everything would be fine. Together they looked up at the starry sky thinking about what could be happening at home.

~~~ The Village ~~~

Yoshiko called out for anyone outside his cell. The guards suddenly left a few minutes ago and he did not know why. He did reconcile in the fact he was alone and now his escape would be much easier then originally planned. Yoshiko did not hesitate to use this opportunity.

Soon he was running through the village while hiding in the shadows. He attempted to blend in with the growing crowds gathering in the streets. At first he was unaware of the reason everyone was looking up at the sky. Yoshiko heard dozens of small explosions and finally looked up to see the Kazekage along with tons of sand battling somebody he could not recognize on a white bird-like-thing. At first he could not tear his eyes away from the fight, _~'Man, that guy can fight without moving…'~ _Yoshiko admired before remembering that he hates the Kazekage. He saw a large white thing falling towards the village, _~'That better not be what I think it is,'~ _he thought before looking towards the Kazekage half encased in an orb of sand.

Yoshiko cringed and closed his eyes thinking that it would be the end. He heard a large explosion and after feeling nothing, he opened his eyes to see a shield of sand over the entire village. He found himself standing in awe along with everyone else around him, not able to believe that the Kazekage was capable of such a thing. All around him he heard the voices of people praising the young Kazekage. Anger quickly building up inside him because of the seemingly naive and idiotic people, Yoshiko quickly made way for the entrance/exit of the village before he could get caught.

As he ran he saw the shadow of the sand shield move away slowly. Thinking that the battle was over and won he ran faster for his destination. As he approached he could see it blocked along with the dead bodies of Suna shinobi from afar. Not knowing what was going on and also not wanting to get caught or be blamed for this, he turned tail and ran another direction to try to go over the wall surrounding the village. As he turned he could see the figure of the Kazekage falling out of the sky towards the village. _~'What's going on? I thought he won and saved the village!'~ _he thought as the Kazekage was swept up out of the air by the white bird-thing and taken away. After seeing shinobi scaling the village and coming towards him he jumped through an open window of a home to hide and wait.

~~~ The mission ~~~

After a short climb up the mountain the girls could see the gates of the Kunoichi Village. They slowed down to a walking pace the rest of the way to the gates. Walking silently, Sune worried about the Sand Village. She tried to push that worry to the back of her mind, but was finding it difficult. Focusing on the mission was the only helpful thing left to do.

They arrived at the small meeting hall of the village by midday. Sune was surprised to see that there were indeed mostly kunoichi walking about the small village. She found it unnerving that so many of them looked so powerful. Raven and Suki did all of the talking with the village leader, Mitsui Takame. Mitsui was a tall woman with long ebony hair tied in many loops from her ponytail, along with long elegant robes and armor, with three swords strapped to her back. To Sune, Mitsui looked beautiful, confident, and strong as well as wise.

When the meeting seemed to be over for the day, Mitsui stood up and bowed respectfully, "I thank you on behalf of my village for coming here today," she said kindly, "I do hope that we can reach an agreement and become valuable allies with Sunagakure."

The rest bowed also and Raven spoke first, "So do we, and hopefully mend any bitterness left behind from our last Kazekage."

"Not to worry," Mitsui said, "All hard feelings are in the past, and we are working towards a better future, if any of my subdominants go against that and try to cause trouble, they will be dealing with me personally," she finished looking towards one of the guard kunoichi that had been glaring at them the entire time. The village was obviously still in a transition of power and ideas that not everyone was not yet comfortable with, much like Suna had been not too long ago.

"Still," Suki started, "The Kazekage will be pleased to hear that everything went smoothly."

"We will return here tomorrow morning for the final agreement," Raven finished.

Mitsui bowed once more, "Yes, and please enjoy your stay," she said kindly before turning to leave followed by her few guards and council members. The meeting itself was short, but the journey was long so the girls were ready to relax while they could before going to their hotel.

"Hey Raven," Suki said getting her friend's attention, "Isn't there hot springs here?" she asked as they walked.

Sune stopped dead in tracks, _~'Hot springs?'~ _she thought getting excited.

"I believe so," Raven answered, "Want to go Sune?" she asked seeing Sune beaming at the words 'hot springs'. Sune just nodded rapidly, "Then lets go, I saw a sign over there."

Sune was first in the warm water of the large hot spring. She had kept repeating the words 'hot spring' all the way there, in the dressing room, and up until she got in the water.

"You must really like hot springs," Suki observed after getting in.

"I love hot springs!" Sune exclaimed, "And this one is just perfect!"

"It is…" Raven and Suki agreed sinking deeper into the water.

They sat quietly relaxing and enjoying the warm water before Suki spoke, "Hey Sune, where's your hair clip?"

"Oh, um it suddenly started to crumble last night," Sune explained, "So I put it away in my pack." Sune was worried about what it might mean, it felt so ominous when it happened. She hoped it wasn't a sign, but thought it had to be a coincidence. How long could sand hold up anyway? Putting her worries in the back of her mind. The girls stopped to eat before heading to their rooms.


	9. Sune's Heart

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 9**

**Sune's Heart**

Sune opened her eyes and was surrounded by a cold endless light. After some thinking she realized she was no longer in the bed of her hotel room, but now she found herself standing alone. Not a soul or even a sound could be found. She had no idea what was going on or where she was. For some unknown reason her heart felt heavy, like there was something pulling down on or just weighing it down. It was as if it were carrying more sorrow and regret then she has ever known.

After looking around Sune could see somebody else also standing alone. From where she was standing all she could make out was red clothing. She unconsciously went towards this person. As she walked she could barley feel her legs move, it was as if she was gliding. As she got closer she immediately knew who it was.

From behind she approached the young Kazekage, Gaara. Sune wanted to say something to get his attention. She tried to speak, but no words came out, not even a sound. After moving in front of him she realized his eyes were closed as if in meditation. Staring at his insomnia darkened eyes she tried to speak again. Again nothing came out, but he then opened his eyes as if he was able to hear her silent voice. She looked into his eyes, but they were staring right through her, as if she was not there. After looking closer she noticed his eyes were glossed over and empty, as if he was not there.

Sune became frightened as she tried to move her legs, but they would not budge. The vast emptiness, abnormally heavy heart, absent voice, and now the inability to move, it was becoming too much for her to handle. She did not know what was happening and she was growing more worried and fearful as the seconds slowly passed.

The massive weight on her heart suddenly became raw agonizing pain. It was unbearable and she quickly clutched the front of her shirt and cringed. Sune wanted to cry, but it was as if she no longer had any tears. _~'What is this pain? What's happening?'~ _She thought and forced herself to look at the young man standing only a few feet away and realized something, _~'Is this your pain?'~_ she mentally asked him.

Slowly the pain subsided and Sune saw him raise his hand in front of his face to look at it with still empty eyes. As her own vision blurred she could see his returning to normal and he blinked a couple times still not seeing her. Within seconds everything within the surrounding light turned black as she felt herself slip away from this unknown world.

~~~ Morning ~~~

Sune slowly opened her eyes to a warm morning light washing over her. She yawned heavily as she sat up and stretched her arms. After rubbing her eyes and looking down she found her legs entangled in the sheets and blankets of the bedspread. She tried to kick and slip her legs out of their confinements, but the struggle caused her to fall out of the bed with a loud thud. "Oaf!" she grunted as she landed on the hard cool floor before looking down to see her legs still entangled in the sheets, "You've got to be kidding me…" she groaned.

"What?" A voice said from the doorway. Sune quickly looked to see Raven standing there still in her sleepwear and with her hair down.

"Oh nothing, I'm just… stuck…" Sune admitted. Raven just sighed as she walked over and got to work on pulling away the knots that had formed around Sune's legs. Soon she was free and quickly got up to her feet, "Um thank you," Sune said politely.

Raven half nodded, "Be ready in thirty minutes, we're going to get breakfast before we go to the meeting for the final agreement," she informed. Sune nodded and Raven turned to leave.

~~~ Later ~~~

The meeting with Mitsui and the village council for the final agreement took hours, much longer then it did the day before. Apparently some of the council did not like what kind of agreements the Kazekage's advisors and their own leader, Mitsui, were wanting. After a lot of compromising and reasoning they were able to convince the council to agree to most of the proposals by reminding them that they themselves had asked for them the day before.

Only talking every once in a while, Sune used the time of sitting idly to think about her weird dream the night before. She had never experienced anything like it before. She wondered why all this stuff was happening. First her own humiliation before she left for the mission, the village might still be in trouble, and now these ominous occurrences with her clip breaking and the dream. She wanted to know what was going on back home. It could not be a coincidence that this is happening now. If it were up to her she would have left and headed home as quickly as she could. But she knew that Raven and Suki were right, it would take more then four days to get back now and by then it would probably all be over or too late to do anything. All they could do now was complete the mission they were assigned.

Sune was snapped back to attention when Mitsui, Raven, and Suki stood up and bowed. Sune quickly did the same before gathering the papers in front of her. The agreement was final and there would be peace between the villages. For that she was happy. Mitsui told the girls that she hoped to be seeing them sometime soon in the future under good circumstances.

After they left the meeting they stopped for supplies and lunch before heading out back south towards Suna. They were all worried about the condition of the village and eager to return. The group quickly leapt from tree to tree back down the mountain and through the forest until they stopped again to rest before starting the trek through the desert.

Sune could not sleep. Sitting outside the tent she stared into the flickering flames of the campfire. She sighed thinking about the peace treaty agreement with the Kunoichi Village. Sune felt that she was not much help, she knew almost nothing of politics so pretty much all she did was take notes and the gather the papers when it was over. Not that Sune thought she would being doing much at the meetings anyway, she was there mainly for fighting support if anything happened and to gain experience.

Sune sighed again, this time much heavier as she laid on her back to look up at the stars. Now she was thinking about the village and the Kazekage. As she stared at the clear night sky she thought about her dream from the night before. She mostly thought about the agonizing pain she felt in her heart. Sune felt her own heartbeat for a few moments, it was steady, calm, and much lighter then she felt in her dream. She thought about the times when her own heart felt heavy with its own sorrow, but she had never felt anything like this. A part of her knew that she had felt his own heart, but she did not want to believe it. If it were really the case, she had no idea why or how it happened.

Sune was woken up hours later by the sound of somebody moving. She opened her eyes to see Raven and Suki putting out the campfire and writing a mission report. "What are you doing?" Sune asked thinking that they should be packing to get ready to leave.

"There's a sandstorm," Raven answered pointing towards the desert. Sune looked to see a cloud of sand in the distance.

"So we have to stay here and keep an eye on it until we know which way it's headed," Suki added, "We don't want to head right into it and get stuck," she explained.

"Okay," Sune responded despite her growing anger and irritation at being held up at the campsite when they desperately needed to return to Suna.

A few hours later Sune was playing a small game of poker with Raven and Suki using a deck of cards and sticks cut up into coin size circles for chips. Sune was not paying much attention to the game as she kept looking towards the desert at the sandstorm. She had no idea how to tell which way it was going.

"If you keep looking at it, it will be harder to tell which way it's going," Suki said.

"I know but I can't help it…" Sune whined as she looked at it again.

"Don't worry everything will be fine," Raven told Sune, "Trust me, I'm always right."

Sune wasn't sure how to take that, but she saw Suki nodding in agreement, "How do you know?" Sune asked as she remembered a conversation she had with them that was very similar to this and she was hoping Raven would not say 'research' again.

"I don't," she answered simply.

"But you just said you're always right," Sune retorted.

"I never said that I know everything, because I don't and I won't pretend I do, I'm just always right."

"It's true," Suki added.

Sune was confused, "How can I be sure? What if this is the one time you're wrong?"

"Don't say that you'll jinx it…" Raven pouted before getting serious again, "You'll see, everything will be fine, you want to bet on it?"

Sune shrank back when she noticed Suki waving her hands and shaking her head no behind Raven, "Um, no… not really," she said finally.

"Aw man, and I could use the extra cash, thanks a lot Suki."

"What? I wasn't doing anything," Suki smiled sheepishly, "It's not like Gaara-sama doesn't pay us enough."

"Yeah, Gaara-sama is the best boss ever… when it comes to payment," Raven added. Sune laughed, she had no idea that they could be so silly all of a sudden.

"True, I don't know what we'd do if something happened to him," Suki said.

"We'd be screwed unless Temari or Kankuro are Kazekage," Raven answered.

There was a long silence as they looked at their new hand of cards before Sune spoke, "Sometimes I forget how young he is," she said.

"Heh yeah, he may be the Kazekage but he's still a teenage guy," Raven said looking at the cards in her hand, "I'm out," she said putting the cards face down.

After a little while of enjoying the friendly card game, they determined that the sandstorm seemed to be going southeast and it was safe to start heading towards it. They were about to pick up their packs when Raven put up her hand to single everyone to halt all movement. Sune and Suki looked around to see shadows moving through the trees approaching their location. Suki pointed at her own eyes then into the woods to indicate she saw them before holding up three fingers. Raven nodded and ran her finger across her eyebrow then held up four fingers. Suki nodded before jumping high into the trees and seemly disappearing. Sune had no idea what was going on. Was it an attack?

"Sune, it seems we have some unwanted company," Raven explained quietly, "I don't know how good of a fighter you are, but you can choose to either stay or hide," she offered.

"I'll stay," Sune said without hesitation just before three grass ninja appeared and tried to attack Raven from behind but she ducked and flipped backwards kicking two of them in the face causing them to fly back and hit a tree. The third shinobi that was not hit by Raven's counter attack wasted no time in going after Sune.

Sune quickly pulled out a kunai to block as she dodged the thrusts of the grass ninja's kunai. Still evading his attacks, Sune could see the other two grass ninja shuffling to their feet before the one she was fighting suddenly jumped away and joined his companions.

"It three of us against the two of you!" one of them shouted through his mask.

"Humph, sounds fine to me," Raven taunted, "Why are you attacking us?" she demanded.

"We want the girl!" The female grass ninja said pointing at Sune.

Raven looked back towards Sune then back, "Let me guess, a certain blued-haired cocky smartass failed at his attempt to capture Sune so whoever hired him, hired you three to finish the job," Raven guessed, "Feel like telling us why?" The three just glared at her but it did not affect her, "No? Okay then, that's understandable, but I'm willing to give you guys a choice."

"A choice?" the masked ninja repeated.

"Yes a choice, you can face me or flee while you can." The three grass ninja laughed, "What, you don't believe I could defeat you? My team is already one up on you guys," she said just before the masked grass ninja started screaming in pain. Everyone looked to see a long arrow of ice piercing the man's shoulder. "Now what's your choice?" she said readying her katana as Suki jumped down next to her with a long bow.

"Why you…" The grass ninja glared.

"Was that genjutsu!" The other man demanded.

"Nope," Suki said, "Just regular ninjutsu, hey Raven, they have pretty good glares don't they? Think you could top it?"

"Mm probably, should I give them one of my glares?" Raven replied.

Suki nodded, "Yeah, and make it a good one."

"I will," she said sticking her sword in the ground as two of the grass ninja prepared themselves to counter and the other attempted to pull out the ice arrow. She then made a few hand signs and closed her eyes, "Death Glare Jutsu!" she said opening them and releasing her genjutsu.

Sune saw all three of the grass ninja stop moving completely as they got caught in the genjutsu with a look of pure terror on their faces. But before Sune could breathe a sigh of relief, three more grass ninja jumped down around her teammates and one more behind her. Sune quickly elbowed the one behind her in the gut before running to help the others.

Raven quickly grabbed her sword and slashed across the torso of the one that had landed behind her while Suki jumped into the air, "Snowflake Shuriken!" Suki said as she threw a few dozen snowflake shaped shuriken made of ice that hit the other two. All three of these grass ninja fell to the ground wounded and unconscious but not dead. Hearing Sune scream suddenly they quickly whipped around to see that Sune had been grabbed from behind by the remaining grass ninja.

Without hesitation Sune stomped down on the man's foot and again elbowed him in the gut to get him to loosen his hold on her just enough for her to move her arms so she could grab his wrist and in one swift movement she snapped it making him scream in pain and let go of her. But when he made a move to go after her again, she jumped over his head doing a flip in the air before she landed behind him and pinching his shoulder. The grass ninja went limp and landed face down on the forest floor.

(Final Fantasy Victory music!)

The girls quickly fled the battle area after winning, wanting to get away before any of the enemy woke up and came after them again. Sune was proud of herself for being able to take care of herself and not being a burden to the others during the fight, but she also felt just as guilty for being the reason why they were attacked in the first place. Sune knew why they wanted her, it was power, her power, and she was sure that Raven and Suki had already figured that out as well. Still, she wanted to know who was behind it all.

"I'm sorry," Sune said to her teammates as they started through the desert, their cloaks flying in the wind as they ran.

"Don't be," Raven said keeping her eyes forward.

"Yeah it's not your fault and none of us got hurt," Suki consoled.

That night the group stopped to rest for a while. It was not quite sunset yet and it irritated Sune. She felt they should be trying to get as much traveling done as they could, especially when the village might be in trouble. Sune voiced her concerns to the others about stopping so early.

"How about you use your kekkei genkai on Gaara-sama again?" Suki suggested, "We want to know what's going on too."

Sune agreed and prepared to focus. She listened carefully, but could barley hear his thoughts. They were quiet and distant, much like people's thoughts in their dreams, "He must be sleeping right now," Sune told the others not remembering that he told her that he never sleeps. That seemed to worry the others more when they asked her to check on Kankuro. Sune focused again, "He's thinking about Temari, she's back from Konoha… and he's recovering from poison… wait poison?"

"He must have been a nasty battle recently," Raven explained, "But he's not dead."

Suki went up to Raven, "Gaara-sama can't be sleeping…" she whispered.

Raven nodded, "He must be unconscious," she whispered back just as quietly. Sune became confused as she saw them share a look of concern.

"Why did we stop so early?" Sune changed the subject, impatient and worried.

"Look," Raven said pointing south, "There's a lighting storm heading right for us and by the looks of it, it will be active for three to twelve hours, we needed to regroup and figure out what to do."

"And we can't go back because of the grass ninja," Suki explained.

Sune looked towards the sky and the dark clouds. She was not happy about being held up again, "So what do we do?" she asked.

"We can't go back and we can't stay here or try to go through this storm without putting ourselves at risk," Raven explained, "But we can go around it," she offered.

"How much longer will that make our journey?" Sune asked.

"Only about six to eight hours more," Raven answered, "We will be jumping over to a trade road that leads north from Suna."

Suki and Sune did not like the idea of an even longer journey, "Okay," Sune agreed, "Let's go."

"We should rest a little first," Suki said, "But not too long, we don't want to stay idle for long with a storm and shinobi on our trail." After only an hour of rest the group headed west for the trade road.

After almost a full day of nonstop travel the group was now making fast pace on the trade road. They stopped that night at a covered resting place on the side of the road. From here they would be going on a straight line for Suna. Even though they were eager to return, they needed to rest before their legs gave out. There was still another two days before they would reach their destination. Just in case the grass ninja managed to follow them, Raven was going to stay awake while the others rested first.

~~~ ? ~~~

Sune found herself in the same cold endless light from before. She turned around to see that she had not moved from her previous position and was still standing in front of the young Kazekage Gaara. Again, she tried to speak forgetting that she could not in this world.

He was looking at his own hand as if he was confused. Soon Sune saw him begin to fade away. She knew what this meant, she had seen it once before and began to panic. Suddenly she felt the wrenching agonizing pain in her heart. It was too much, and she wanted to cry.

_"Please don't go…" _Sune cried silently, _"You can't leave, too many people are relying on you!" he_r efforts were futile as she watched him fading away, _"Please… I-I can't loose you as well…"_ Through blurred vision she saw his almost transparent form disappear completely into the endless white light. The pain in her heart also faded away but was replaced by her own grief.

~~~ Night ~~~

Sune's eyes snapped open and she immediately sat up. Tears instantly rolled down her cheeks as she silently cried thinking about what had just happened. She put her hand over her mouth to muffle her own sobs.

Raven who was still on guard duty saw this and went to her side, "Sune, what's wrong?" she asked making Suki wake up instantly and look at them. Sune shook her head unable to speak through her own crying.

"Sune, what is it?" Suki asked.

Sune forced herself to get a grip, "He's g-gone…" she whimpered.

"Who's gone?" Suki asked.

"G-Gaara," Sune said not caring about formalities, "H-he just d-died… he's dead…" she said before burying her face in her hands and crying more.

"What?" Raven and Suki said in disbelief.

"How can you know that?" Suki asked Sune.

Sune gasped a few more times trying to get a hold of her voice long enough to explain. She was not sure why, but she had a theory, "B-because… somehow… o-our minds… were still… c-connected… and I saw him… fade a-away… and die," she managed to say in between sobs.

Suki turned to Raven, "Oh my gosh," she started.

"I know," Raven said, "We're jobless…" This made Sune laugh a tiny bit while crying.

After Sune could not cry anymore she sat silently, staring at the sky away from the others who were sitting on a bench reminiscing. Sune touched her heart, it felt heavy with sadness, fear, and most of all, regret. Sadness that somebody like him had such a short difficult life. Fear for what would happen to the village, what had happened to it, and what will be waiting for them when they return. Regret that she could not even remember the last thing she said to him. Regret that she was such a pain for him about the missions she was assigned when his job was already hard enough. Regret that she never got the chance to confront him about her feelings. Sune then saw a shooting star fly across the sky, she wished for a miracle.


	10. It's a Ghost! It's a Zombie! No it's…

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 10**

**It's a Ghost! It's a Zombie! No it's…**

At an unknown location a cloaked Yoshiko stood at the entrance of a cave in a large mountain. He walked into the darkness slowly but with confidence. Soon he reached a large door with torches and a couple of rugged looking guards. Upon seeing him they opened the doors and let him pass. Yoshiko continued walking through a dimly lit grand hall with massive tall support beams holding up the high ceiling.

He stopped when he reached the center of the room and a voice from the shadows spoke, "Why have you failed?" The voice was low and harsh.

Yoshiko stared into the darkness, "I underestimated the Kazekage of the sand," he admitted, "But I won't fail again, the Kazekage has gone missing, saw him taken away with my own eyes, probably to be finished off by someone else," he explained confidently.

"Hm? Interesting," the voice said slightly amused, "Very well, you can try again and have one more chance, but if you fail again…" the voice tailed off before a young woman was pushed out of the shadows and into the light for Yoshiko to see. She had mid-length wavy light brown hair and was also wearing a cloak, but her wrists and ankles were cuffed and chained. Yoshiko noted that she seemed to still be uninjured, but she looked distraught when he saw her tear and mascara streaked face.

"Yoshiko…" the girl pleaded.

"Yura…" Yoshiko whispered before glaring into the shadows.

~~~ The Desert ~~~

The girls were walking quietly through the seemly endless desert back to the village. They looked up to see a small cloud of dust on the horizon getting closer from the direction of the village. Still walking they watched as the dust cloud got closer and closer and in no time they could make out that it was a person running and leaving the trail of dust behind them. Seconds later Gai ran past with Kakashi on his back.

The girls stopped in their tracks staring into the distance with repulsion before Suki spoke, "Was that two guys!"

Raven nodded, "I think so…" she said looking just as worried.

Then Lee, carrying a bunch of packs, ran by a moment later, "Wait for me Gai-sensei!" he called out as he dashed past. The girls stood silently looking at each other.

"EXCUSE ME!" Naruto shouted running past followed by Sakura, Neji, and Tenten, all of them seemed to be struggling to keep up.

"What the?" Raven said just before Lee came back and grabbed her hands.

"I am Rock Lee the handsome devil of the Leaf Village," he declared, "Please be my girlfriend and I'll-"

"What the! No!" she snapped pulling her hands away. He looked upset but was quickly distracted when he saw Suki and he jumped over to her and quickly grabbed her hands.

"I am Rock Lee the handsome devil of the Leaf Village," he declared again, "Please be my girlfriend and I'll protect you with my life!"

"Ew, gross, no!" she denied pulling her hands away. Again he looked upset before noticing Sune and was about to jump over to her before Naruto called out to him telling him to hurry up or he'll be left behind.

"Right, of course!" Lee declared before running off.

"What the?" Raven said again watching them run off.

"Who were they!" Suki asked.

"Judging by their headbands, Leaf shinobi," Sune answered, "They were probably called to help with whatever happened back in the village," she said plainly before turning to continue walking towards the village.

~~~ Sunagakure ~~~

As the group walked through the village to the Kazekage building, Raven and Suki noticed that the villagers seemed to be cheerful. Sune was keeping her head down and did not seem to notice. Raven and Suki shared a questioningly look as they walked.

Once inside the building even the other ninja and staff seemed to be more cheerful. This time Sune noticed and grew angry as she thought they were happy that their Kazekage was dead. She mentally called everybody foul names not realizing the real reasons everybody was so happy. Soon Temari saw them in the hall way and immediately went to them.

"Hey you're back," Temari greeted, "You wouldn't believe everything that has happened while you were gone."

"Really?" Suki started, "What's up?"

"Come with me," Temari said turning and signaling for them to follow her.

The four kunoichi walked to the Kazekage's office and entered to see Kankuro standing behind the desk setting a large stack of files down on it. Sune could not believe her eyes, now with the Kazekage dead, his brother has taken his place? Sune did not think it was too bad but it still upset her.

"Oh sweet, you're back," Kankuro said looking up, "If that peace treaty went well then today will be an even better day," he grinned.

"What do you mean?" Raven asked voicing their confusion just before Gaara walked in, still in his funeral clothes. He stopped and looked around when he realized he was being stared at with shocked faces and Raven and Suki pointing at him as if he were a ghost.

He looked down and at his sleeves to inspect his clothes thinking he was covered in wet sand or something. "What?" he asked them when finding nothing that justify those weird looks he was being given.

"It's a ghost!" Suki said still pointing.

"What?" Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro shouted.

"No, wait," Raven said before throwing a random pen at him. It hit him and landed on the floor, "He's not transparent so that means…"

"Zombie!" Suki finished before she and Raven ran to hide behind the desk and shoving Kankuro out of the way. All the others could see of the two girls was their eyes peering up from behind the safety of the desk.

"I can assure you I am not a ghost or a zombie…" Gaara said scratching his head.

"Where on Earth did you two get an idea like that?" Temari demanded and still hiding the two pointed at Sune who looked like when was in a trance.

_~'How can this be? I saw him die…'~ _Sune thought, _~'This isn't possible, could I have been mistaken?'~ _Sune came to what she thought had to be the only possible conclusion and glared intently at the Kazekage. "He's an imposter," Sune said as everyone looked at her, "The real Kazekage died."

Kankuro immediately jumped in to defend, "Whoa Sune, where did you get an idea like that? I mean, wait, how much do you already know?"

"Enough to know that he cannot be the Kazekage," she said sternly as she glared at Gaara, this time there really was something behind her glare, but it still did not effect him. He has put up with worse and without realizing it he glared back. Nobody was going to tell him he is not the rightful Kazekage. Sune shivered under the intensity of his glare.

Temari opened her mouth to speak, but Gaara stopped her before he stepped forward to face Sune. They stared at each other before he finally broke the silence, "Use your kekkei genkai on me," he ordered and stopped glaring, "To prove my innocents."

Sune was shocked, "How do you know about that?"

"Because I am the Kazekage," he stated.

"Fine," Sune reluctantly agreed, "Think of the first time we met."

He nodded and so Sune started by closing her eyes and focusing. Sune thought that if he was indeed the real Kazekage then he would think of their first mission briefing. Instead, she was shocked when he remembered the real first time she had met him, when she walked into him while she was not watching where she was going when she was looking for the hospital to see her parents. Sune opened her eyes and quickly turned away from him to hide her blush, _~'I still can't believe I kept doing that, he must think I'm such an idiot!'~ _

Sune crossed her arms as she turned back, "Yeah, it's him alright…" she confirmed.

Kankuro slapped his fist and hand together, "Unless it wasn't really him in the first place!" he suggested before everyone else in the room turned and glared at him. He quickly put his hands up defensively, "Kidding, kidding, gosh…"

Gaara sighed and turn to Raven and Suki who had come out from behind his desk, "Your report?"

Raven handed him the file, "It was a success." He nodded and placed the file on top of the stack of files already on his desk then selected a few and offered them to Sune.

"What are these?" she asked taking the files.

"The missing pieces," he told her, "Read them if you want to know what happened while you were gone, dismissed," he finished before going around his desk to sit down. Sune bowed slightly before leaving into the hallway with Raven and Suki following closely behind.

Raven and Suki noticed Sune struggling to keep from crying as the walked, "What's wrong?" Suki asked concerned.

"Nothing," Sune shook her head, "I'm just… happy," she finished before taking off for home with the files in hand.

~~~ Ichinarwa Residence ~~~

Sune walked quietly through her front door not sure if her parents would be home or not. As she made her way into the kitchen she saw them sitting at the table. Both her parents greeted her as she came in.

"What's that?" her mother asked eyeing the files.

"Just some files for me to read from Kazekage-sama," Sune answered like it was nothing.

"You just got back from your mission and he already has got you doing something else?" her father teased, "Well have fun Sweetheart."

"Oh I will," Sune said sarcastically as she grabbed a banana and ate it before going to her room.

Her cat, Bo, was snoozing on her bed and he looked at her with lazy eyes. She pet him and set the files down on her bed before making her way into her bathroom to take a much needed nice long bath after her return home. After she had finished, her mother called her for dinner. It was nice to sit down with her family while they all got the chance. She told her parents about her mission leaving out the reason she was targeted in the attack on the way back, but making sure Raven and Suki sounded awesome in the fight. She also left out that she was training with her telepathy and when she thought that the Kazekage died. After helping her mother clean up she went to her room to get to work on reading the files.

Sune read all the files one after another without stopping. Once she was done she stared at the pages for a few minutes, letting the information sink in. So much had happened in the short time she was gone, and she thought it was bad enough when she only knew half of it. She stood up and stretched before she gathered the files together and heading out to return them to Gaara-sama.

As Sune stepped out into the sandy streets of Sunagakure, she noticed that it was already dark and the lights in people's homes were already off and the windows were dark. She had not realized how late it was, but decided to go to the Kazekage building anyway.

Sune was soon standing in front of the Kazekage's office. The door was opened a bit so she stepped in to see he was not there. She stepped up to the desk and tried to find a place to put the files through the mess of papers and other files cluttering the once neat desk. Just setting them down in the middle she turned to leave.

Just as she was about to step through the door she bumped into somebody unexpectedly, "Oh sorry," she said automatically before looking up to see it was the Kazekage she walked into… again.

He did not say anything as he stepped aside to let her pass into the hallway. She looked at him nervously, "I finished reading the files and brought them back, they're on you desk," she explained and he nodded once in response. Sune was about to walk away, but quickly stopped and turned before he stepped into his office, "Um," she started to get his attention, "I'm glad you're okay." He looked at her and nodded once again before closing the door behind him as he entered his office. Sune quickly turned to leave also before she started blushing from embarrassment.

Once she got back to her room she quickly got ready for bed as she was suddenly feeling the fatigue from her journey catch up to her. She pet Bo when he even jumped onto the bed with her to snuggle. "Goodnight Bo," Sune said.

"Plurr-meow," Bo responded before yawning and putting his head down and closing his eyes. Sune also quickly fell into a deep peaceful slumber.


	11. Chunin Training Hard!

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 11**

**Chunin Training Hard!**

Sune walked through the streets of Sunagakure in a foul mood. She had been training almost everyday for the last _two and a half months _with the help of Raven and Suki. The thing she was angry about was the fact that in the last two and half months, she had only been on _three_ missions. One with Raven, one with Suki, and the last one was a solo mission. On her solo mission she worked in the green houses and she found it to be very interesting despite the endless watering and soil turning of plant after plant. She had just came from the Kazekage's office to ask about work, but he had to leave right away for a meeting. She was trying to make a living here and thought that she would get more opportunities for missions ever since she became Chunin a little over two months ago.

In the finals of the Chunin exam, Sune was knocked out just before her opponent finally passed out in the first round of the fights. She felt she was lucky to have passed the test at all. Raven and Suki told her that she showed she has what it takes to be a Chunin and that if she keeps training and going on higher level missions, maybe even someday soon she'll be a Jonin. But she had to be going on missions to be a shinobi.

When she got back from the exam, her parents took her out to celebrate. The next day Temari, Raven, and Suki took her out again to celebrate with a girls day out. A few days later she finally got the news that Yoshiko had escaped from his cell during the attack and there was no trace of him yet. She was also told that all the senbons of his they found and took in for inspection were laced in a sleeping drug, enough to knock out some one twice her size at that.

Sune made it to the place she likes to train and walked over to the table she set up with a bunch of different weapons laid out on it. Raven and Suki told her that she needs to practice with a variety of weapons so that she can be able to use whatever she can get her hands on in an intense battle. Sune picked up the bow and some arrows that Suki gave her to practice with. After shooting all of them she ran up to the cheesy "_bad guy_" dummy, as Raven called it, and saw she hit all the marks, the head, heart, gut, and groin targets. Sune smirked, she has found that she was good with projectile weapons. Anything she could throw or shoot she was fine with mainly because she did not have to get up close and personal with the target.

"Well done," Raven praised from beside her making Sune nearly jump out of her skin.

"Stop sneaking up on me like that," Sune complained, "It freaks me out every time!"

Raven blinked blue eyes in confusion, "Huh? Oh okay," she said like she does every other time.

Sune sighed, it was useless to complain, she knew Raven was a ninja and could not help being quiet and stealthy. "What's up?" Sune asked as she began to remove the arrows from the _bad guy_ dummy.

"Just seeing how you're doing," Raven answered as she too pulled out one of the arrows, "You didn't look too happy when you left the Kazekage building."

"Oh that?" Sune smiled sheepishly, "It was nothing really, Gaara-sama hasn't been giving me any missions, I mean how am I suppose to make a living if I'm not doing my job as a ninja?"

"I see," Raven said fiddling with a sai blade on the table.

"What's his problem anyway?" Sune asked sitting on a clear spot on the table remembering that he seemed to be more agitated then usual.

"Hn? Probably just stress," Raven said, "There is a lot going on right now and it doesn't help that he doesn't get enough to eat, exercise, or rest. Suki and I talked to Temari and Kankuro about getting him a day off, but we're all having troubles getting our own work done to help."

"Maybe I can ask to be given paperwork duty or something so at least I'm helping out and not just waiting around for a mission," Sune suggested.

"Um," Raven looked up for a moment thinking, "You could give it a shot."

"I think I will," Sune said as she hopped back off the table and starting walking back in the direction she came from to the Kazekage building.

"I'm going to take these weapons back for now so you can come get them later, okay?" Raven said.

"Oh that would be great thanks," Sune agreed and waved, "See you later Raven!"

~~~ Kazekage Building ~~~

"Hey Gaara," Kankuro greeted popping his head in through the office door, "Temari and I are going to get something to eat, wanna come?" he asked and Gaara looked up from his paperwork and shook his head, "Oh okay," Kankuro understood, "Want us to pick up anything for you?"

"No, I'm fine," he said looking back to his pointless paperwork. He really did want to go with them, but every time he left his desk for even a few minutes, another mountain of work piled up.

"Okay, well I think we'll end up bringing back something anyway, see you later," Kankuro said just before leaving.

Gaara returned his attention back to the paperwork in front of him. So many mission requests with too few qualified shinobi to do them. Not only was there a shortage of available higher ranking ninja, but there was also a demand for school teachers, sensei's, medical ninja, AMBU, book keepers, and other staff jobs that people were already working double duties with. It did not help that some of the village elders did were not giving him support on any of his plans. The Kazekage and many others with very close to saying to ignore the elder's protests and do what they needed to do before more lives were lost and they ended up with even more issues.

He yawned, he was tired, more like exhausted. He mentally counted how many days since he last slept. It was four, four long days. After returning from the dead, he was falling asleep at the most random times. Luckily not in any meetings… yet, despite how boring they can be. Temari told him that he had to get a good sleeping pattern, so now he tried to only sleep at night. That is, when he got the chance. Gaara has recently discovered these 'dreams' people would always talk about. They were a little confusing for him still, so he was doing research every chance he got about what they mean and why they happen. But sometimes that left him more confused and with more questions.

He found himself quickly loosing his battle against sleep. Not that he had any real motivation to stay awake all the time anymore. _~'Maybe a few minutes can't hurt, then I'll be ready to go when I wake up again.'~ _So he put his head down and fell asleep.

~~~ A little while later ~~~

Sune entered the Kazekage's office and saw him at his desk with his head down. "Um, Kazekage-sama?"

"Hn?" he responded automatically in his sleep.

"I uh was wondering… if…" She stepped closer to the desk and saw his eyes were not even open. She noticed how peaceful and childlike he looked, "Kazekage-sama?" she asked trying to wake him up but no response, "Kazekage-sama?" she tried again but again no response. After wondering if she should let him be, she took a deep breath, "Gaara!" she shouted and he jumped up and looked around and at her.

"What?" he demanded none too happy, but immediately felt guilty when he saw her jump and wince so he cleared his throat, "I mean, what is it?" he asked softly feeling a little awkward and embarrassed, two feelings he was still not use to.

"I want you to give me something to do and I'm not leaving until I can help instead of sitting around a waiting for a mission that may never come," Sune demanded, "I don't care what it is, I'll even do paperwork."

Gaara looked at her surprised by what she was asking and looked around the room for something she could do before he eyed a stack of papers on the floor next to his desk. She saw him do this and took the stack over to the sofa against the side wall of the room. "See was that so hard?" she joked.

"I don't understand."

"It was a joke…" she said, "Haven't you ever heard a joke before?" she asked rhetorically.

"Of course I have," he said and she slapped her forehead.

"You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"Never mind," Sune laughed slightly causing him to become more confused. He assumed it was a "girl logic" thing, as Kankuro once put it. He watched her sit down and open a file, "These just have to be gone through, right?" she asked and he nodded before turning back to his work.

He still felt tired, he only slept for maybe ten minutes before Sune came in and offered to do something. Remembering that he had something he needed to do before the day ended, he stood up from his chair and searched for a particular file. Once he found it he headed towards the door.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Sune asked as she noticed he was leaving.

"I have an errand to run," he said as headed through the door.

"Oh, okay…" Sune trailed off watching him leave and then close the door behind him. "I'll be here I guess…" A few moments passed before she looked back to the stack of papers and she sighed in relief, "Well at least I'll be able to concentrate a little better without him here," she thought out loud with a blush. She sighed again before she shook her head trying to focus, "Look at me, there I go daydreaming again, I really wish I would stop that, I shouldn't be thinking about guys right now, I need to focus on my work so I can get my own life started…"

Sune managed to get through just under half the stack sitting next to her, "Wow this is really boring," she thought out loud before yawning.

"Who are you talking to?" A deep voice said from the doorway. Sune snapped her head up to see Gaara standing in the doorway with a bewildered expression and she felt her face heat up.

Sune quickly looked around the office, "Um, that plant?" she said pointing at the tall plant in the back corner of the room and not wanting to tell him she was simply thinking out loud to herself.

"Uh… okay?" he said unsure of how to react.

"What? You have a problem with a girl who talks to random objects?" she defended turning redder.

He scratched his head slipping his fingers through his red hair, "Uh, no… I guess not?" he did not understand at all.

"Good," she said defensively before quickly turning back to the papers as he walked to his desk. They were quiet for several minutes before she spoke again, "Where did you go?" she asked trying to break the uncomfortable silence.

He put down his pen and turned with his chair to face her, "I went to the communication tower."

After he did not say anything else but was still looking at her, she spoke again, "For what? Is there something wrong?" she asked.

He shook his head, "I recently received a letter from somebody, and I needed to send them my reply before they left for another long mission, Temari and Kankuro already sent a few letters."

"That's nice," she smiled, "Who was it for?" she asked curious.

"A friend."

Understanding that he must be wanting to stay reserved, she decided not to pry for a name, "Where?" she asked.

"Konoha, in the Land of Fire."

"Oh that's neat, during the Chunin exam awhile back is the only time I've ever been there, but it seemed like a really neat place with a lot of interesting people," she explained and he nodded, "Do you go there often?" she asked.

"Not really," he said, "Before I became Kazekage I was there a handful of times, now it's just been for the exams."

"Would you like to go there more often, like just to visit?" she was starting to feel like she was asking too many questions.

He turned with his chair back to his desk, "Perhaps," he said, "Or a vacation."

She laughed softly, "Or that."

As if by an unspoken agreement they both returned to work. After about another hour or so, Sune finished and looked up to see that the Kazekage had fallen asleep again. She considered waking him up but decided not to because she had already woken him up once today. Slowly she tiptoed across the room and slipped through the door and closed it as silently as she could. After the door latched she breathed a sigh of relief and whipped around and crashed into somebody knocking them onto the ground and falling on them with a loud thud.

Sune looked to see that it was Kankuro and he was now flat on his back. He groaned and rubbed the back of his head before looking at her and blinking a couple times, "Why hello…" he said creepily with a sheepish smile.

She jumped up and off him denying the urge to slap him across the face for being so, well creepy. "I'm sorry, I didn't see you," she explained brushing herself off.

He also stood up and brushed himself off, "That's okay, I wasn't paying attention either," he said looking around and then picking up a newspaper off the floor, "I was reading this and didn't expect to run into anybody, especially literally," he grinned, "Is Gaara still in there?"

"Yes he is, but I think he's tired so he went to sleep at his desk," she explained.

"I don't think he's sleeping right now," Kankuro said looking past her towards the office door behind her.

"No really he's…" she started turning back to the door but instead bumping into the Kazekage who was standing directly behind in the doorway. She had not even heard the door open, "How do you do that every time?" she asked rhetorically as she stepped out of his way trying not to blush.

The Kazekage didn't say anything as he walked past both of them and down the hallway. "Where are you going?" Kankuro called after him.

"I'm calling it a day, I can't focus right now," the Kazekage said not turning back.

"But you have a meeting in twenty minutes," Kankuro said.

"It can go on without me or it's cancelled," Gaara finished before going around a corner and out of sight.

"What did you do?" Kankuro asked Sune teasingly and she just shook her head and shrugged before walking away herself. Kankuro sighed and looked back at the paper he was reading and read one of the headlines again, 'The Suna Festival is in One Month!'.

Sune went home after running a few errands for her parents and got ready for bed early. She planned to get in some intense training with Raven and Suki first thing in the morning during their day off. Temari offered to come along too if she could. Still, she had a big day planned and she needed her rest.

~~~ Kazekage Building ~~~

In the Kazekage's home, Gaara walked into the kitchen after his nap was cut short by another nightmare. He sat down at the table and rested his head on its cold hard surface. Temari had come in moments after, "Hey, is everything alright?"

"Hn," he muttered.

"Are you ready for something to eat, Kankuro and I got you something," Temari suggested, "Here I'll heat it up for you."

"Hn," he said again before sitting up and watching her move about the room.

"Nightmares again?" Tamari asked sitting at the table while placing a plate in front of him. He avoided eye contact and did not answer. She decided not to pry understanding that he did not like to talk about them anyway. "How are you liking the bed?" she asked. She and Kankuro had got him a new bed that was actually comfortable and a little bigger to replace his old one which was just a piece of furniture that seemed to only collect dust.

"It's nice," he said, "I like it."

"That's good," Temari smiled and then remembered that he was suppose to ask him something, "You know what? I almost forgot, but I have something to ask of you…"

~~~ Next Day ~~~

First thing the next morning Sune waited at the training area for Raven and Suki to arrive while reading an elemental chakra manual. She was now learning to combine two chakra types to be able to create a more powerful ninjutsu. Sune found it very interesting and exciting. Her primary elemental chakra type was lighting and she had found out she also has earth element chakra. She wondered what kind of ninjustu would come from combining them. Because neither Raven or Suki had earth type chakra they told her that they knew somebody who should know somebody else that could help her train.

After Sune put down the manual she started watching the sky to kill time while she waited and soon Raven and Suki appeared in a puff of smoke. "Hey, are we late?" Suki asked.

"Nope, I was early," Sune winked before looking around, "Is Temari coming?" she asked.

Raven nodded, "I saw her earlier this morning and she said that she still had some convincing to do before he would come," she explained, "But she was sure they would be coming."

"He?" Sune repeated, "Did she find somebody to give me a few lessons with earth natured chakra?"

"Yep!" Suki almost giggled with her hand covering her mouth, "They'll be here any moment," Suki said just before there was another puff of smoke revealing Temari.

"Hey, he has to do one little thing and then he'll be here," Tamari said with a thumbs up.

"Who?" Sune asked.

"Just the most qualified teacher for the earth element around," Temari said.

"But who?" Sune asked confused and annoyed just before a whirl of sand quickly appeared and dispersed to reveal the Kazekage standing there with his arms folded over his chest.

"Are you prepared?" he asked Sune.

Sune could not believe it, why did it have to be him? She could barley keep herself from blushing or stuttering around him as it was. "Yes, I am," Sune answered with false confidence.

He nodded, "There is no need for all of you to stay here, dismissed," he said and Raven and Suki nodded and disappeared. Temari also left because she had duties to attend to and Sune was left alone with the Kazekage.


	12. One Thing After Another…

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 12**

**One Thing After Another…**

One week had passed since Sune started her training with Gaara the young Kazekage. He often left her by herself to train while he had to do Kazekage stuff and attend meetings. Sune was improving rapidly thanks to Gaara's teaching abilities. Once she had called him Gaara-sensei, but he told her not too because this is only temporary. She said it a couple more times after that just to tease him, but she did it in a way to make sure he knew she was not being serious. She did get him to almost crack a smile a couple times also.

In about ten days Sune's parents were planning to leave Suna once again and go south to give medical treatment to a few people in a tiny village. She was going to miss them, but they told her that they were going to miss her just as much and were planning to write every week to her. Even though Sune was not getting very many missions, the ones she did do paid very well so she was going to be able to afford to keep the apartment for a while after her parents leave. She was thinking that she should start looking for a roommate soon so she would not have to worry about making payments and to have company and a friend.

"Alright, that's enough for today," Gaara told her in the middle of training.

She looked at him, "What? Why?" she asked, surly he was not tired first for once.

"I have somewhere I need to be," he told her. "You have been making extraordinary progress and have earned the rest of the day off anyway," he said before turning to leave. "Of course you can stay and continue training what you already know, it's your choice." Then he disappeared in his sand as he teleported off somewhere.

"Mmm, train or take a break?" she wondered, "Ha, that should be a no-brainer, break of course!" Sune picked up her things and decided to do a little window shopping before she would grab a bite to eat. She walked around for over a half an hour and saw a really nice pair of dress shoes and another pair of ninja-shoes that she liked. Sune also got distracted by a pet store and the new puppies in the window, but she had to walk away before she would run in and purchased all of them to take home with her on a whim because they were all so adorable.

Sune continued her stroll through the village when she thought she saw someone down the street with a head of red hair that seemed indistinguishable to a certain Kazekage's. Wondering if it was really him she decided to follow and see for herself to say a friendly hi or something. As she got closer the more she was sure it was him as he stood in his usual manner with his arms crossed over his chest in his red coat and near emotionless set expression. If he had his sand gourd strapped to his back she would have been able to spot him in an instant.

As Sune was about to approach he turned and looked directly at her, "Sune-san," Gaara said as he nodded in greeting.

"Hi Gaara-sama," Sune smiled, "What are you doing?" she asked politely.

"I'm waiting for Matsuri, she said she wanted to use the bathroom before we leave again," he explained.

"Oh okay," she said before a thought accorded that gave her an unpleasant feeling, "Who's Matsuri?" she asked.

"My former student," he said just before a girl with short choppy drown hair and big dark eyes came running up to Gaara. She was wearing a short green dress with a pink ribbon around her waist and pink sandals.

"Sorry if I took too long Gaara-sensei," the girl quickly apologized.

"Not at all," he said to her before noticing she was staring at Sune. He thought he should introduce them, "Uh this is Sune, the one I'm helping with earth nature techniques, Sune this is Matsuri."

Matsuri smiled widely at Sune, "Hi! Wow you're really pretty!" she praised making Sune smile and blush at the complement, "Why didn't you tell me she was pretty, Gaara-sensei!" she scolded Gaara and he merely shrugged making Sune almost turn red. Sune realized that she had seen Matsuri around a lot in the Kazekage building, entering as she was leaving or leaving as she was entering. "Hey Sune, you should come to lunch with us, Gaara-sensei's paying," Matsuri persuaded.

"I don't want to intrude," Sune denied thinking it was suppose to be a date or something, that would make it a little too awkward for her comfort.

"Aw come on, it's my birthday, I'd really like if you came…"

"Is it really your birthday or are you just saying that?" Sune asked as Gaara stood by saying nothing.

"Yep! It sure is!" Matsuri smiled, "That's why Gaara-sensei took me shopping for a gift because he doesn't know how to shop for girls and now he's taking me for a birthday lunch because my girlfriends are away on missions today, so how 'bout it, you coming?"

"Oh I don't know…"

"Come on I want you to come so I can get to know you, Gaara-sensei won't mind, will you?" she turned to Gaara.

He shook his head, "Not at all," he said in his usual manner.

Matsuri was obviously not going to take no for an answer, "Oh alright, it _IS_ your birthday," Sune finally agreed and Matsuri jumped with joy.

"Alright let's go, any preferences?" Matsuri asked both of them.

While in a nice little café Sune and Matsuri talked while Gaara just sat there during the light meal. Near the end of it Sune began to feel very uncomfortable as people stared at them and Matsuri kept turning to Gaara and whispering to him before laughing under her breath, whatever she was saying to him, Sune could tell he too was becoming just as uncomfortable.

"Is Sune your girlfriend?" Matsuri whispered and Gaara had a momentary look of shock before shaking his head. "Do like her?" she giggled softly when he looked at Sune before giving Matsuri a look that clearly said knock it off. "Oh come on, I can sense the tension between you two, why don't you just kiss her or something already?" she whispered just as he was taking a drink causing him to sputter and cough slightly.

"Matsuri…" he warned and she just laughed. Within only a few minutes Sune found an opportunity to leave so she could run a couple errands before she went home.

"Sooo Gaara-sensei," Matsuri started soon after Sune left, "Are you going to ask Sune-chan to the festival in a few weeks?" she asked him.

"Why would I, when I'm not going to attend myself?" he stated.

"What?" the girl exclaimed, "You're not going? How could you not go?"

"Simple, I would make someone else do the opening statement while I stay in my office."

"You can't do that! Well… You're the Kazekage so I guess you can… but you shouldn't! The village is finally up and running again with the repairs and improvements done, the whole point is to celebrate your safe return over two months ago, you should go!" she pressured.

"We'll see," he said and Matsuri huffed knowing that was the best she was going to get out of him.

~~~ Nine days Later ~~~

Over a week later Sune was helping her parents pack and load the cart for their leave the next day. She and the Kazekage were suppose to have an early training session today so she told him during their last one that she would be a little late for this reason. He did not seem to mind and gave her the okay.

A little while later during Sune's training session a Jonin popped in and immediately ran to the Kazekage and said something to him that Sune could not hear.

"What?" Gaara shouted, something Sune could most definitely hear and made her worry. It was rare for him to lose this cool. What could possibly be going on? "Raven and Suki are away on missions right now! I'll take care of it myself until the fire extinguish team gets there, have they already been notified?" the Kazekage asked the Jonin.

"Yes sir, somebody is on their to notify them as we speak," the Jonin informed.

"Understood, Sune wait here until I return," Gaara ordered before teleporting away.

"What's going on?" Sune ran up to the Jonin before he left.

"There is a fire on a building across the street from the flower shop on the east side," he told her.

Sune's heart was racing now for she lived across the street from a flower shop on the east side. What if that was the building she lived in? Forgetting her earlier orders from Gaara to wait where she was, she immediately took off for home to see for herself what exactly was going on.

As she got closer she could see the smoke rising. The grays and blacks of the burning smoke covered the clear sky with its hazy smog. Sune approached the area to see the apartment attached next to her own was already completely engulfed in flames. Also the fire had already spread to her place, to what might be the kitchen area so far. She saw ninja using water style jutsu to douse the fire as well as a team using hoses.

Soon she saw the Kazekage come out of the burning building carrying a young girl, maybe ten years old. The girl was unconscious and Sune could hear the Kazekage order somebody to get a medical ninja before handing her to another ninja to be taken to safety. There were people running around everywhere before half a dozen Chunin and Jonin were telling everyone to clear the area and give them some room. Sune tried to tell them that she lived there and wanted to help but they told her the Kazekage was going to take care of it as soon as possible. Deciding to trust the Kazekage's abilities Sune backed off.

_~'If only there was more water… Where are Raven and Suki when you need them?'~ _Sune thought. Suddenly the Kazekage used his Sand Burial Jutsu to completely submerge the burning part of the building underground._ ~'That works too…'~ _Sune thought after seeing about half of her own house taken too.

Sune stood in both shock and awe at seeing what just happened and how it was resolved. The Kazekage had given more orders to the other shinobi that were working there before he turned and saw her. He teleported using his sand and reappeared directly in front of her making her jump in surprise. "What are you doing here?" he asked, "I thought I told you to stay put."

Sune just pointed at what use to be a building, "I kind of lived there…" she said plainly.

He turned to look before turning back to her, "Oh…" he said understanding, "I am having Temari make arrangements for you and the other residents as soon as possible," he informed.

"Sune? Sune are you alright?" a woman's voice called out and Sune turned to see her mother running towards her.

"Yes Mom, I'm alright I just got here a little bit ago myself."

"Do you know what happened?" her mother asked her.

"No I don't," Sune said as she looked to Gaara for an explanation.

"There was a fire in your neighbor's residence," he said.

Sune wanted to slap her forehead, "We know that, how did it happen?" she asked and Gaara simply shrugged. Sune was about to say more before she heard a familiar cat's meow beside her. She looked down in time to see Bo rub against her leg, "Bo!" she exclaimed as she bent down to pick him up and cuddle him, "You're okay! Such a smart kitty, yes you are!" she cooed.

"Was everyone out of the house when this happened?" Gaara asked.

Sune looked up as her mother answered, "Yep, we all had plans today, my husband and I were going to leave the village tomorrow but it looks like we'll need to hold off a bit to make sure my daughter is safe and settled in," she explained.

"Oh Mom, you don't have to do that, I'll be fine," Sune tried, "You should help the people that really need it and that's why you're leaving tomorrow."

"I know dear, but…" her mother started.

"Sune is in good hands Ichinarwa-san," The Kazekage cut in with a tone of respect, "Temari will make sure Sune is well taken care of, not to mention Sune is one of my shinobi and if I have to I will see to it personally, I promise."

"Thank you Kazekage-sama, that really does put me at ease," her mother said respectfully.

Sune looked down at Bo as he meowed for attention before looking back to the Kazekage. "Hey I just realized something! Gaara-sama, you look a lot like my Bo!" she smiled.

"Excuse me?" he said confused.

"Bo, my cat!" she told him and turned so he could see the cat in her arms, "You look like him!"

"No I don't," he said not getting why she was saying this.

"No really, hey Mom don't you agree?" Sune asked holding the cat next to Gaara for a side-by-side view. Their eyes were nearly the same, aqua with dark circles, and Bo had light fur with spots of reddish brown. One red dot on the forehead matching the location of Gaara's love kanji.

Her mother laughed, "I'm sorry Kazekage-sama but I'm going to have to agree with Sune on this," she said making Gaara's shoulders slump in defeat.

Within moments Temari ran up to Gaara, "I've made arrangements for the family who's house caught fire, they are going to stay in a hotel for the night and they have family they can stay with for awhile until this is cleared up," she reported and Gaara nodded. "Oh hi Sune, what's up?" Temari greeted, "I think I'm going to have your parents stay in a hotel for the night too, they're leaving tomorrow morning anyway right?"

"Yes, they are," Sune answered looking at her mother, "Thank you Temari," Sune said as the Kazekage walked away to give orders to somebody else.

"What about Sune?" her mother asked.

"Well I was going to help go through what's left of the house and then…"

~~~ Kazekage Building ~~~

"I can't believe I have to do this!" Kankuro groaned carrying and dragging the suitcases of Sune's belongings into her new room.

"This is only temporary right?" Sune asked, "Not that I don't appreciate this, but I don't want to intrude…"

"Nonsense!" Temari declared, "Kankuro! Don't be so careless!"

After everything was brought into the room, Temari and Kankuro left Sune to do as she pleased. The fire that had spread to her house had only got to the kitchen, utility room, bathroom, and part of the front room as well. Luckily there was nothing important in those rooms because her parents had already packed and all of Sune's belongings were in her room besides and few family pictures and albums in the living room, so they were all spared. Sune made a mental note to wash all her clothes to make sure they don't smell like smoke. Now she was going to stay in the Kazekage building, in the room across from Temari's and next to the office-library. Even though it was Temari who insisted on her staying there, with her mother's complete agreement, Sune worried that Kankuro and Gaara would not be to thrilled about it. Sune decided she wanted to do something really nice for the siblings to thank them.

That evening Sune heard a knock at the door of the bedroom. "It's open!" Sune called from the desk on the other side of the room and she turned to see Temari pop her head in.

"Hey, you hungry? I was thinking we could go out to get something, it'll be just us tonight," Temari said coming in, "Kankuro said he going on a 'date' tonight and Gaara will be working late after a meeting," she explained.

"Sure," Sune said closing the book in front of her.

"What are you reading?" Temari asked.

"I'm not reading anything," Sune said confused, "I was writing and drawing."

"Oh, can I see?"

"I'm sorry, but it's suppose to be private."

"Oh like a diary, I get it," Temari said understanding, "Come on, I was thinking we could invite your parents too for a going-away dinner," she suggested.

"I think they'd like that," Sune smiled, "I hope they got everything done that they needed to get done before they leave tomorrow, bye Bo, be good," she said leaving with Temari.


	13. Convincing

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 13**

**Convincing**

At an unknown location a determined Yoshiko practiced a forbidden jutsu on some animals. He wiped the sweat away from his forehead and smirked. He had done it, he was sure of it, he mastered the jutsu. This time there was no way we would fail. He would not fail the master, most of all he would not, could not, fail Yura. She was counting on him to bring Sune to the master who was holding her hostage to make sure he would get the job done. Yoshiko hoped that Sunagakure had not appointed a new Kazekage yet, even if they did, the new one would not be able to match his current skills.

Yoshiko went to a nearby steam to wash up, but found himself staring into the water at his reflection. "I'm sorry Sune, I don't want to hurt you again," he said to the water as if she were there, "I'm sure you want to forget about me as much as I want to forget about you, but I have to this… for Yura, I know you would understand…" he said knowing that he was not going to try to explain to Sune after everything he had done, he could not take the chance.

Soon Yoshiko would leave for Sunagakure, kidnap Sune, bring her to the master in exchange for Yura's freedom, and let the master do whatever he had planned while he and Yura ran for it. He was thinking about running to the Land of Fire, he knew of a small village where they could hide and be safe.

~~~ Sunagakure ~~~

"You are distracted," Gaara reminded Sune during their training session. "Do you need to stop for the day?"

"No, I've almost got it, I'm sure of it this time," Sune said determined. Three weeks had quickly passed since she moved into the Kazekage building, and Sune would train during the day and give Temari cooking lessons in the evening. Today there was a lot of commotion going on for the festival tomorrow, so of course she would be distracted, she could feel the energy of the village. But for some reason there was something she could not pinpoint what was making her lose focus, aside from the fact that the Kazekage was looking quite agreeable today, but she was use to having thoughts like that.

Gaara was feeling slightly uneasy about all that was going on. This morning he was hearing nothing but 'Kazekage-sama!' over and over again. Aside from his duties, there was already enough for him to worry about when it came to having a mass number of people in one place for an event. Something could happen whether be theft to mass murder. He stared up at the sky lost in thought and no longer paying attention to Sune until he felt something cold and sharp against his neck above the collar of his normal shirt.

"You're distracted…" Sune taunted from her position behind him holding a kunai against his neck. She had used a technique that allowed her to submerge underground and come back up wherever she chooses.

He looked back through the corner of his eye and smirked, "Looks like you completed the technique," he said as she let go allowing him to turn around to face her. "To catch me off guard as well, well done," he praised making Sune smile brightly and she caught him off guard again by throwing his arms around him and hugging him.

"It's all thanks to, I couldn't have done it without you!" Sune thanked still hugging him. He did not know how to handle a situation like this so when she was not letting go he cautiously touched his hands to her back and let go again, it was the closest he could go to a hug, especially when they were being watched.

Just then Temari, Kankuro, Raven, and Suki all cheered for Sune in congratulations. Sune looked over seeing them standing there for the first time since they had shown up just before she came up behind Gaara with the kunai. She let go of Gaara and took a few steps away and tried to hide her blush of embarrassment, but was failing because she was also blushing from all the attention.

After they were done praising and congratulating Sune, they decided they should take Sune out and treat her to nice dinner for all her hard work over the last few months paying off and learning a number of new jutsu. Kankuro and Temari also wanted to do it as a thank you to her for cooking and cleaning in the Kazekage residence.

Sune sat still blushing shyly from the attention of Kankuro, Temari, Raven, and Suki at their table of a yakiniku restaurant. Gaara told them he had some things he wanted to finish in his office, so he left them ignoring the protests of the others.

"I bet," Temari started, "If you took the Chunin exam now, with everything you've learned, you would so beat that one Cloud ninja you lost against in the finals."

Everyone including Sune agreed.

"Are you excited for the festival tomorrow?" Suki asked no one in particular when nobody else was talking.

"Yeah, I have the prettiest kimono to wear," Sune said.

"Oh you already have a kimono?" Temari said sadly, "I hoping we could go shopping for one."

"I can still go shopping with you," Sune said, "I don't have shoes yet," she persuaded and Temari's face lit up.

"That's great! I know of the best shoe store!" Temari said. "Are you two going to come?" she asked Raven and Suki and they said they had work to do.

"I can come along too so you can model your outfits in the dressing room," Kankuro smirked while eyeing Sune, but he was quickly slapped upside the head by all four of the girls, "Ouch! That was unnecessary…" he whined before he remembered something important, "Hey, did anyone tell Sune the plan?"

"Plan?" Temari asked, "What plan are you talking about?"

"That one plan about the thing," he said not so articulately.

"Oh yeah, I remember," Temari started before turning to Sune, "We have devised a plan to get Gaara to go to the festival."

"I thought he didn't want to go," Sune noted.

"We're not so sure about that," Temari said holding up a finger, "If all fails, this is where you come in. You see, the four of us are going to try to convince him to attend and make the opening statement," Temari explained, "I am going to use my part as the wonderful big sister, Kankuro is going to do something similar, while Raven and Suki clear his schedule and make sure he has a statement ready."

"Sounds like a plan, but what does that have to do with me?" Sune asked.

"I'm glad you asked," Temari continued, "We know it's not going to work if just me and Kankuro try to make him go so we figure he needs somebody else to ask him, somebody he can't say no to, especially when we wear him down with constant pestering beforehand," Temari grinned.

Sune thought about what Temari said and noticed that everyone was looking at her. "Wait you want ME to ask him?" Sune asked blushing brightly and everyone nodded, "Oh no-no-no-no-no-no, I can't do that!" Sune denied turning redder.

"Sure you can," Suki pressured, "It's not going to be like a date or anything."

"Remember you don't have to if you really don't want to, but this whole festival is to celebrate his safe return three months ago, not to mention the repairs and the upgrades to the rest of the village," Raven added, "He's even getting a visit from some people from Konoha."

"Mmm, I guess I'll give it a try…" Sune reluctantly agreed thinking about all the possible outcomes.

"That's great," Kankuro said, "What's the worse that could happen?" he tried to console.

_~'I could pour my heart out and end up being rejected like some fangirl…'~ _Sune thought miserably, but out loud she laughed and smiled, "Heh heh yeah, what?" Then she went back to focusing on her meal with shifty eyes.

~~~ Kazekage Building ~~~

In the Kazekage's office, Gaara got through another large stack of paperwork before sitting back in his chair to take a moment to do nothing but stare at the ceiling. He was tired. In secret he was going out at night to train himself in taijutsu and retrain himself in both defensive and offensive abilities because he was afraid that with Shukaku gone, he had lost his ability to protect the village. If he could not protect the village, he would have to step down as its Kazekage. Luckily he had not lost his ability to control sand, at first he was worried when he was having a difficult time making it do as he pleased. That was the first thing he retrained himself to do and now he had almost regained the control he had over it before. The sand was his arsenal, he did not get his reputation name for nothing, the sand was his weapon, his shield, and his armor.

He let his thoughts wander a little more and he found himself thinking about Sune and wondered why she hugged him earlier. Sure she was happy, but he still did not understand it, or girls altogether for that matter. The technique Sune learned today was the last one he was going to teach her, so maybe she was glad to be finished with learning earth element jutsu. That meant after today, he would not spend any time with her, and for some reason he was sad about it. He had enjoyed teaching again those few times a week, it helped him review those techniques as well. He was going to miss it, not that he would admit it to anybody.

Thinking about Sune caused him to remember that she had taken a file a few days ago. He needed it back since she should be done with it by now. It was the file of information on record of Yoshiko. Since that foul rat managed to escape his cell, they needed all the information they could get on him and Sune was the only one that knew anything to begin with. He thought about where Sune might be and knew that Temari was probably going to take Sune shopping later so she would not be back for awhile. After thinking it should be on the desk in her room, he left to get it.

He popped his head into her room, it had an agreeable fragrance as he stepped in and saw a few books and papers on the desk on the other side of the room. He quickly walked over to the desk feeling uncomfortable being in a girl's room. _~'Huh? Is that me?'~ _he wondered seeing a picture of himself on the left page of an open book on the desk. Curious he read what it said on the other side.

_'…when we were training today it looked like he was wearing new pants, but it's hard to tell with him because all his clothes look the same, but his backside looked good in them without his sand gourd…' _

"What?…" he said confused, ~'_What do new pants have to do with my back?'~_ he wondered as he started flipping through the book to see if there were any more pictures of himself. There was many of them and he read a handful of passages next to them.

_'…I met this guy today, he was cute and I had to make an idiot of myself, just my luck…' _Another read, _'…That guy I literally ran into yesterday, turned out to be the freaking Kazekage! Just my freaking luck! And I had to clean his house as a mission! At least I got paid well…' _And another, _'…I had a super hectic last couple of weeks, first stupid Yoshiko showing up, making a fool out of myself, again! I still wonder if Gaara-sama heard what I said, just my luck! Then there was the mission and meeting Mitsui, she was pretty. Then the Kazekage dying then not dying, I read the mission reports he gave me, that cleared some things up, I still feel so bad for him but I'm happy he's okay now. I don't know what the village would do, what I would do if he was gone. We ran out of rice today, I need to remember to buy some more…_'

Gaara was about to flip to the next page when he heard somebody coming through the front door. He scrambled to find the item he originally came for and quickly got back into the hallway to see Kankuro coming towards him. Kankuro saw his brother right away, "Hey, were you just in Sune's room?" he asked.

"Why?" Gaara asked suspiciously.

"Just wondering," Kankuro replied.

"I had to get this file," Gaara explained beginning to walk past him, "I'm going back to my office."

"Wait," Kankuro started, "Temari is taking Sune shopping for shoes or something like that."

"I know," Gaara said walking again.

"Oh yeah, one more thing," Kankuro started while walking with Gaara to the office. It was time to put their plan into action.

~~~ Later ~~~

"Please."

"No."

"Please!"

"No."

"Pleease," Sune started batting her eyelashes.

"No," Gaara said again pretending to be reading his paperwork. Little did she know, she really was breaking him and he hated it.

"Pleeease..." she stepped closer to his desk.

He noticed this move and put his papers back down and rested his elbows on his desk, folding his hands in front of his mouth, "No, I'm not going," he said sternly.

"Why not!" Sune pouted and crossed her arms in front of her. No answer. She stepped all the way up to his desk and placed her hands on it, "Am I really that bad to be around? Is there something about me you and everybody else can't stand that I don't know about?" she whined.

He looked up at her a little shocked but showed nothing of it on his face. "...No..." he said quietly, "Nothing like that."

"Then why not!" she demanded.

"I just don't want people to get the wrong idea, besides you would have a better time going with Raven and Suki than me," he admitted wanting to say yes just to shut her up and make her happy.

"Oh I see what this is all about," she stated, "You've never gone out with a girl before..." He got an old look on his face but no answer. "Ha! I knew it from the start! Well it's not like I'm asking this to be a date or anything, everyone will be happy to see that you're there," she smiled.

He looked away trying to hide his embarrassment. He knows that she likes him, a lot. They never did talk about what he heard her yell in the training area that day. Of course, he pretended he did not hear it. Then there were the thoughts of whether she meant what she said or not. Did she say that she loved him because she really did, or to get her ex away from her and to try to make a point that she had moved on, or was it even just another fangirl crush? He wanted to know, but he knew he would not be asking about it any time soon.

"Kazekage-sama?" she said trying to get his attention but there was no answer, he was lost in thought. "Kazekage-sama?" Again, no answer, "Gaara?"

That got his attention and he looked up, "I don't know..." he sighed and looked back down at his paperwork that he really needed to get back to.

"Come on, go to the festival tonight. It's in honor of you anyway I'm just asking to keep you company" she explained, "Everybody else is going and even your friends from Konoha will be there, it would be lame if you didn't go and just stayed here working. You should really quit being so anti-social, Gaara-kun," she said smiling when she called him by his name instead of his title and the fact he did not glare at her when she did so.

He shook his head no, he was determined not to let her break him because he thought if he did then she would think she could always get her way. She was starting to get angry, he was being so stubborn and she couldn't figure out why. She thought about reading his mind, but decided not to because reading minds never seemed to turn out well. Still, everybody was counting on her to convince/break him into going. She made her eyes as big and innocent as possible, "Pleeeease..." She saw him bite his lower lip. She was breaking him and she knew it now, but he still had not said yes. Then she got a wicked idea as she remembered what Raven had said to her once to try to explain him, _'He may be the Kazekage but he is still a teenage guy.'_

Forgetting that she had left the door wide open when she came in, Sune put one knee up on Gaara's desk across from him causing his eyes to go wide as she half climbs up onto the desk, "Pleeeeease..." she says as sweet and innocent as she can. Gaara had backed up in his chair to keep an appropriate distance between them, but she kept leaning in and moving closer. He didn't know what to do, he had never been in a situation like this before. She was getting to him. Eventually she was sitting on the edge on the desk directly in front of him. He was visibly sweating and he could not think of anything to do."Well?" she asked batting her eye lashes again.

"Uh," was all he could say.

Even though she did not want to give him the wrong idea, she placed herself neatly in his lap and placed her hands behind his neck forcing eye contact. She was really starting to freak him out as she leaned in real close, "Please, Gaa-ra-kun..." she begged sweetly, "You'd be making all of us _soo_ happy just by being there..." she batted her eye lashes again.

He swallowed hard, "Very well..." he sighed in defeat.

"Really!" she asked pulling away from him.

He nodded once making her grin and jump up and clap her hands while hopping up and down, "Yay! I did it!"

"I assume that my siblings put you up to this, correct?" he asked slightly amused.

"Well, yeah... but I really do think that you should go, you ARE the Kazekage after all," she smiled. He sighed and tried to turn his attention back to his work. "What time do you want me to be ready?" she asked and he looked at her confused. "You know, so we can meet up with everybody and you can introduce me to your friends."

"I think I'll leave my office around six today so seven should be fine." he said trying his best not to make it sound like an order.

"Seven it is then. Temari and Kankuro said they were going to leave around five so we'll meet up with them later," she confirmed heading towards the doorway.

"Okay," he said watching her leave. He kept watching her as she closed the door behind her and then stared at the door for a few minutes before returning his attention back to his work. He had a lot to get done before he could leave today and he did not want to be late. Even if he did not get what he needed done, he knew that he would just return to his office later and work through the night like he has done many times before, even though he was hoping he could sleep tonight and get some rest. The chances that he would get to do that, were becoming less and less likely.

He sighed as he worked. He would never admit to it, but he was excited for the festival now that he was actually going. It was a chance to see everyone again and who knows, he might actually have fun.


	14. Reunion for the Festival

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 14 **

**Reunion for the Festival**

The Kazekage sat at his desk going through countless documents and mission reports. He managed to get most of the work done by the time he looked up at the clock. It read 5:55pm. He debated whether or not to open up the next file and start working on that for the next five minutes or just call it a day and head to his room to get ready. Instead he leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling.

_~'I'm probably going to regret agreeing to this,'~_ he thought to himself still expecting Shukaku to reply. The place in this mind where Shukaku's voice would come from was silent. It was nice. He finally had his thoughts to himself. Some peace and quiet. In fact it was almost too quiet sometimes. Where are those loudmouths Naruto and Lee when you need them? Gaara just sat there thinking until he looked at the clock again, 5:59pm. He closed a drawer and locked it as he got up before making his way to the door and turning off the lights.

As he made his way through the hallways he spotted Raven and Suki talking about whatever it is that they talk about. "Good evening Gaara-sama," Raven said when she saw him coming.

"Good evening Gaara-sama, see you at the festival later," Suki said.

Gaara nodded in acknowledgement, "Where is Sune?" he asked the girls.

"She just left to get ready," Raven said.

He nodded and started to leave.

"Hey Raven, can you believe the he's_ Finally _going on a date with Sune?" Suki said.

Gaara stopped dead in his tracks when he heard this, "What?" he asked as he turned back around, "Where did you hear that?"

"Temari," Raven said.

"Huh?"

"Yeah well, we, Temari, and Kankuro couldn't convince you to go so we thought that maybe you were waiting for some one to ask or something…" Suki said.

"... and we thought that you and Sune got along pretty good..." Raven said.

"... so we all devised a plan to set you guys up..." Suki smiled, "Since you're so shy about this kind of thing..."

"...everybody can tell there's something going on between you two," Raven looked at him accusingly. Gaara kept going back and forth between the two girls that were not giving him a chance to get a word in. He hated having to talk to more then one girl at a time.

"Wait you probably need to go now Gaara-sama..." Suki said.

"...and we have to go and get ready ourselves," Raven finished.

"See you later Gaara-sama, have fun!" Suki said as both the girls waved and left before he could say anything. Gaara stood there in shock as he watched the girls rush off with a dumbfounded look on his face and one eye twitching. "D-d-d-date?" he finally said out loud. _~'Did I miss something!'~ _he thought.

Just then a guard walked by, "Good evening Kazekage-sama, have fun on your date tonight," the older teen male smiled and winked almost making Gaara blush but he glared instead.

_~'Does everybody know about this!'~ _he thought before he hurried off to the safety of his own room. Now this was just embarrassing. _~'It's not a date! I knew this would come back to haunt me, but not this quickly...'~ _He made it to the hallway where the bedrooms are. He could hear Sune moving around in her room. Gaara thought about knocking on the door and telling her that he's there, but instead went past it and made his way to the end of the hall and walked into his room to get ready.

~~~ Sune's Room ~~~

Sune was in her room trying to find where she put her nice shoes she just bought to go with the kimono that her aunt gave her before she passed away. Ever since she got it, she couldn't wait for a chance to wear it. As she was looking she heard a door open and close down the hall. She looked up, "I guess he's back," she said to herself, "I wonder why he didn't come tell me?" Actually, she was glad that he didn't because she had just got out of the shower only minutes ago and was walking around her room in nothing but a towel rapped around her body and one more around her hair as she set out her clothes out on her bed.

"Ah-ha! There you are!" she exclaimed as she spotted her shoes in their box at the bottom of her closet. She grabbed them and set them by her bed before heading back into her bathroom to blow-dry her hair.

When she finished blow-drying, she went to do her hair and sat at the vanity that was already there when she got this room. She chose not to straighten or curl it or do anything else too fancy that would make her worry all night about messing it up. Instead she just brushed and pulled her hair neatly into a ponytail with a hair tie and a ribbon. Then she took a dangling geisha pin and put in the base of the ponytail. Next was what to do with her bangs. She instinctively started to reach for the clip that she always wore since the day she met Gaara. She smiled when she looked at it. It had been quite a while ago now since he fixed it for her when it broke, and she still had not got a new one. She did not need another one. She did not want another one. Even so, she decided to wear a flower clip Temari gave her for tonight. Next was the make-up. Again she didn't do anything fancy. She applied a little mascara, blush, and lipstick. That took maybe a few minutes at the most.

After that she started thinking. What were these people from Konoha like? She had traveled a lot as a kid so Sune knew better then to think that they were any different than other ninja. Still she wondered, they must be some pretty interesting people to be old friends of Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. She could not wait to go to the festival and meet these people. Just then she remembered she would be with Gaara the whole time. "He's probably the kind of guy that just stands off to the side and doesn't have any fun," she said to herself quietly. She got a malevolent look on her face and grinned, "I guess I'll have to force him to be included," she concluded.

Sune looked at the clock by her bed, "Oops, I better finish getting ready," she said as she grabbed the first item of clothing to start getting dressed.

~~~ Later ~~~

It did not take long for Gaara to get ready. All he did was shower, groom, and get dressed. Now he was waiting for Sune in the living room while standing by the window as he watched his village, Sunagakure, get an orange glow from the setting sun. He watched as his people moved about the streets going from one booth to another. Soon he was able to see that spiky blonde Naruto and his friends coming towards the Kazekage building.

_~'How much longer is she going to take?'~ _Gaara thought, not that he was in any hurry to leave, but he still wanted to get this over with. Just then he could hear a door open in the hallway. He did not hear the door close again so he was sure it was Sune because she never closed her door when she left. He heard her light footsteps on the marble floor making there way to his location.

"Gaara?" she asked as she walked into the room that was growing darker with the lack the sunlight coming through the windows. He could see her looking around the room because she could not see him in the shadows. Gaara stood in the dark corner staring. "Gaara?" he heard her ask again. Sune obviously didn't see him because he saw her turn towards the kitchen. He followed silently behind. "Gaara? Are you-"

"Yes?" he responded behind her making her almost jump out of her skin.

"Oh!" she yelped turning to see him, "You really need to stop doing that, it's creepy!" she scolded making him look at her apologetically. "Soooo?" she asked.

"'So' what?" he asked confused.

"What do you think? How do I look?" she asked him stepping backwards into the light to turn in a circle and model her outfit. She was wearing a white kimono with purple trim and black wave-like swirls at the bottom, with her shoulders uncovered. She could tell he wanted to say something but could not, he was speechless. Sune could no longer resist the urge to read his mind.

_~'...Wow... I never imagined I would see this side of her... why can't I say anything!'~_ she heard his thoughts and giggled slightly.

"What?" he asked wondering why she was laughing.

"Oh nothing, but I take that I look good right?"

"You look nice," he said with a straight face, "We should get going, the others are waiting," he said before heading towards the doorway and Sune followed.

"You know," she said as they started down the hallways to leave the building, "You look good too, I didn't think you could dress up in something other than your Kazekage robes."

"Is that so?" he said looking away. He was still not very good at taking a compliment.

"Uh-huh," she said. They continued walking downstairs and through hallways. Sune was excited and had started walking with a bit of a bounce in her step and even started humming. Gaara kept trying to figure out what she was so happy about. Sune noticed he was staring at her, "What?" she asked still smiling.

"What are you so happy about?" he asked.

"Well," she said, "This will be only the second time I've been to an event like this, the first wasn't a very good experience though," she explained, "But I'm confident that this will be way better!" he looked at the ground and didn't say anything. Worried that she may have upset him she tried to think of a way to make him feel better. "Are you wanting to do anything at the festival?" she asked.

"Not really."

"No rides, or games, or anything?"

"No."

She smiled, "Good," she said and he looked at her surprised, "I don't really like that kind of stuff," she explained. The two had stopped in front of the main door and Gaara looked like he was about to say something but was cut off by a voice Sune didn't recognize.

"HEY!" Two guys yelled while running in from another room to greet Gaara. One was a tan, spiky blonde-haired guy, in an orange and black kimono _(Naruto) _and the other was an odd looking guy with big round eyes, thick eyebrows, and the stupidest bowl-cut she had ever seen with a green and black kimono _(Lee). _Sune could have sworn she had seen these two before.

"WE HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN FOREVER BUDDY!" The blonde yelled loudly.

"Hello Naruto, Lee." Gaara nodded in greeting.

"Naruto! Don't be so loud!" A pink-haired girl in a pink and red kimono scolded as she walked in.

"Oh right, sorry Sakura-chan," he grinned nervously scratching the back of his head.

Lee noticed Sune looking around nervously, "And who is this lovely lady?" he asked.

"Hello, I'm Sune Ichinarwa, nice to meet you," she said to him and offered her hand to shake.

He gently took hold of her hand and got on one knee with his other hand in a fist by his heart, "Ah Sune, such a beautiful name for such a beautiful lady, I'm am the handsome devil of the Leaf Village, Rock Lee!" he stated confidently as his hair blew in the wind and leaves flutter around them.

"Uh, okay, that nice," she said unimpressed with a creeped out look on her face and trying to pull away.

"Sune, please be my girlfriend and I'll protect you with my life!" he begged not letting go of her, and she remembered where she had seem him before, it was when she was coming back from her mission in the rebel Kunoichi village.

"Fat chance," she said plainly making Naruto laugh outright at poor Lee.

"Huh? Why not?" he whined disappointed.

Sune was about to give a list of reasons but just as she opened her mouth the pink-haired girl ran over and punch both of the guys. "Naruto, quit being so insensitive! Lee, stop hitting on every pretty girl you see, can't you see that she's with Gaara!" Sakura scolded making Sune blush slightly, "I'm sorry, they're just idiots. Hello Sune, I'm Sakura Haruno, nice to meet you."

"Hello, Sakura," Sune smiled and shook Sakura's hand.

"Hey Gaara?" Lee asked from the floor, "Is Sune your girlfriend?" Sune started blushing and Sakura noticed this.

"No, why?" Gaara said unfazed by the question.

"Oh okay just wondering," Lee answered as he stood up from the floor.

Just then nine other people came in wondering what the others were yelling about. Soon almost everybody was introduced to Sune and greeted Gaara as both an old friend, comrade, or the Kazekage. Naruto, Sakura, Sai, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Hinata, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ino were all in the room now.

Naruto quickly pulled Sai over to him and Gaara, "This is Sai, you guys haven't met yet, say hi Sai," Naruto said hoping Sai had learned by now not to say inappropriate things and making people angry and hate his guts.

Sai smiled his fake smile, "Hello, Gaara-sama I have heard many good things about you," he greeted and bowed slightly. Naruto and Sakura sighed in relief and Gaara gave a short nod before turning to Naruto.

"Is he the Sai that is the replacement for Uchiha on your team?" he asked.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "Well, yeah, I guess you could say that, wait how did you already know about that?"

"At the last Chunin exam, I noticed that you were not there, Tsunade-sama told me that you were out on an important mission involving the Akatsuki and possible information on Orochimaru, and since then I have been keeping close tabs on you and your team at Tsunade-sama's own request," he explained.

"Ah, that makes sense," Naruto nodded pretending like he understood.

"One more thing Naruto, stop by to see me tomorrow morning, I have something for you."

"Really? For me?" Naruto said grinning, "Aw, you shouldn't have."

"It's just a document, I'll explain tomorrow."

Just then the main door opened hitting Lee in the face making him fall on the floor because he was not paying attention. Nobody noticed Lee as Temari, Kankuro, Raven, and Suki came in. "Oh, hey everybody long time no see!" Kankuro greeted when he saw everybody. He was wearing a black and dark purple kimono without any hat or face-paint. Sune was only just now able to see the resemblance between him and his bother. There wasn't much, but it was there.

"Hey," Temari smiled and waved, but was looking at Shikamaru who looked like he was about to fall asleep on his feet until now.

"Gaara-sama, it's almost seven," Raven informed. She was wearing a maroon and red kimono and holding a clip board.

"Which means it's almost time to make your opening statement for the village," Suki said. She was wearing a pink and white kimono and was also holding a clip board.

Gaara nodded, "I should get going," he said, "Please enjoy your time here in Suna while under these good circumstances," he said before leaving with Kankuro, Raven, and Suki. Everybody watched as they left.

"Alright!" Naruto shouted enthusiastically, "It's time to PAR-TAY! Come on Hinata, let's go, we can't miss this!"

"Mmm, r-right," Hinata blushed and nodded before going over to him and taking his arm as they left. Hinata was wearing a pale purple kimono with darker purple flowers on it and had her hair up in a pony-tail with a pin like Sune. Neji glared at Naruto while everybody else stared in shock at them except for Sai and Shikamaru.

"Wh- wha- what?" Sakura stuttered and pointed.

"Naruto asked Hinata to be his date a few days ago," Shikamaru explained and Sai nodded.

"Oh good for them," Ino said, "I'm glad I'm not the only one with a date here, come on Sai-kun," she then grabbed his arm and was about to take off before Sakura jumped in front of them.

"Wait a second! When did this happen!" Sakura shouted.

"Ino asked me yesterday afternoon," Sai said, "I read in a book once that people don't like to be rejected when asking out someone, so I figured that I rather say yes and have a nice time instead of getting get punched like what usually happens when I interact with a female as of late," he smiled his fake smile before Ino dragged him off.

Sakura soon found that there were a couple more dates within the group for tonight. There was Neji and Tenten and when Lee was about to ask about it, Neji and Tenten both gave a 'You ask, you die!' look which quickly shut him up.

Sakura looked around and that Shikamaru and Temari disappeared, "Hey Sune did you see where Shikamaru and Temari went?" she asked. Sune shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, Sakura looked at everybody askingly and they did the same. Sakura sighed and shook her head.

"HEY!" Naruto yelled from the street towards them, "What are you guys all standing around for, come on!"

"Grrrr, Naruto..." Sakura grumbled gritting her teeth, "You're being way to loud..."

"Yeah yeah," Kiba sighed, "Let's go Akamaru," he said as he walked through the door to Akamaru who was waiting outside like a good dog. The other guys followed.

"Come on Sune," Sakura said, "Walk with me, I want to talk with you, you know, to get to know you a little better," Sakura smiled.

"Sure," Sune smiled.

Sune walked with Sakura and the other girls, Hinata, Tenten, and Ino who joined. They walked a little ways behind the guys and Sune quickly found that she liked these girls and that Sakura only acts so mean to Naruto because they have known each other for a long time. Sakura told Sune about when she met Gaara and how he was not a very good person then, but then something happen with Naruto and Gaara, so he changed his ways, and ever since then he and his siblings have been invaluable allies and comrades. She also told Sune about her own medical abilities.

"Really, you're a medical ninja?" Sune asked rhetorically, "My parents are traveling medical ninja," she said.

"Do you have any experience in medicine then?" Sakura asked.

"A little, but it's mostly natural healing practices like herbs, aromas, and nerve treatment with either massage or acupuncture, I only have a little skill in chakra healing so my aunt taught me the alternatives."

"Wow, that's really interesting, don't find many people who still practice those methods," Ino smiled.

"Nope, sure don't," Sune smiled.

"Ever do anything like that for Gaara, like massages?" Tenten asked laughing slightly.

Sune blushed a deep red at what she was suggesting, "No," she answered truthfully.

"Mmm, d-do you want to?" Hinata asked.

Sune looked at her dumbfounded and blushed more, "I don't know, I've never thought about it," she said quietly, "I guess if he ever needs something like that I'd be happy to offer my services."

"Oh, I see how it is," Sakura whispered so the guys up ahead couldn't hear, "This is either a situation where you like him and he doesn't like you back or he doesn't even know that you like him, am I right?"

Sune looked at the ground, _~'Is it really that obvious?'~ _she thought to herself.

"Well, which one is it," Ino prided.

Sune sighed and blushed again in embarrassed, "The second one..."

"I see, well you know what I think you should do?" Sakura asked.

"What?"

"Go talk to him and tell him how you feel, trust me even if he rejects you, which he wouldn't, you'll feel better and will be able to move on instead of never knowing or living with the regret of never saying anything after it's too late."

"I, I could, but I shouldn't," Sune said.

"Had you're heart broken before huh?" Sakura said.

Sune looked up at her surprised, "How could you tell all this stuff?" she asked.

"It's written all over your face, you like him but you're scared, simple as that," Sakura explained, "Look, I'm not saying to have to confess your feelings tonight, but I saw the look on his face when Lee was hitting on you, it was pure jealously," she smiled. Sune looked at her surprised while her whole face turned red.

"So Sune, do you have any special abilities?" Hinata asked in a normal tone and changing the subject as they continued walking.

Sune face returned to it's normal color, "Um sort of, yeah."

"Well what is it?" Tenten asked.

"Promise to keep it a secret if I tell you, people usually become uncomfortable around me when they know about it." All the girls nodded. "Just so you know I almost never use it so don't be scared or anything."

"Don't worry, we won't." Hinata said reassuringly.

"I-I can hear people's thoughts, I can read minds when I choose to," she whispered afraid that they would fear and shun her.

"Wow!" the girls said in unison.

"That's amazing!" Hinata smiled.

"That must be so useful in battle!" Tenten admired.

"Yeah, that's so cool," Sakura grinned.

"Hey, you don't even need to talk to you-know-who, you could just read his mind and find out!" Ino suggested cheerfully.

Sune smiled slightly, happy that they accepted her right away. The girls chatted a little more as they walked through the village until they reached a large clear area where people were gathering and lanterns were coming on to light the entire area and the streets as it was almost completely dark now and the stars were coming out. In the front there was a stage with some instruments and a microphone. _~'This must be a dance floor or something,'~ _Sune thought to herself. She could see Gaara on the stage talking with Kankuro. Raven and Suki were also on the stage making sure wires and cables were hooked-up and giving orders to other ninja. There was still no sign of Shikamaru or Temari. Suki tested the microphone and announced that Kazekage was about to speak. The girls in the group walked over and stood next to their dates and Sakura stayed by Sune as the still growing crowd became silent.


	15. The Festival: Fun, Games, and Dancing?

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 15**

**The Festival: Fun, Games, and... Dancing?**

The Kazekage was standing on the stage while things were still being set up and double-checked. "Hey Gaara, are you listening?" Kankuro asked when he noticed his brother looking out towards the gathering crowd.

"Yeah and I know," Gaara said, "I still do not understand why I always have to do this."

"Uh, because you're the Kazekage," Kankuro teased.

Gaara half glared at his brother, "I know I am," he said coldly.

They both looked out towards the crowd and when Kankuro turned back he noticed Gaara put his head down to hold the bridge of his nose and close his eyes, "Hey, you alright?" he quietly asked worried.

Gaara brought his head back up and straightened up, "I am fine," he said quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"I am just a little tired, that is all," he looked away then down at floor.

Kankuro knew his brother was lying, "Okay," he said in a way to make sure he knew he was lying, "Make sure to get some rest tonight." Gaara nodded. "Hey look," Kankuro said pointing, "There they come." Gaara looked and sure enough he saw the others joining the crowd. "You ready for your speech?" Kankuro asked grinning, he knew that his brother hated making these kinds of speeches and statements.

"I guess..."

Raven came up and tapped his shoulder and he leaned over to listen, "Gaara-sama, everything's ready." He nodded and Raven gave a thumbs up to Suki to signal her to begin. Suki tested the microphone and announced that Kazekage was about to speak. The crowd cheered including the guests from Konoha. Naruto and Lee being the loudest out of everybody there.

The Kazekage took a couple breaths as he walked up to the microphone, "Good evening," he said and the crowd cheered a little more, "Tonight we are here to celebrate the success of the new Chunin and Jonin to Sunagakure and also the many advances and cooperation between Suna and Konoha,"

"AND TO THE KAZEKAGE!" Naruto, Lee, and also Kiba yelled from the front of the crowd making everyone cheer and shout things like 'long live the Kazekage' and fan-girls scream 'we love you Kazekage-sama'. Gaara scratched the back of his head and looked embarrassed. Sune watched all this and smiled. Gaara looked down from the stage as people still cheered and made eye-contact with Sune. She smiled and waved.

"One more thing," he said into the microphone and people quieted again, "I would like to acknowledge the people that offered to work and take up guard duty tonight to ensure your safety." The crowd cheered again. "Now everybody, go out and enjoy the night," he finished. The people cheered one last time as Gaara left the stage and after a few minutes the crowd had soon dispersed and music started playing on the stage.

Gaara had to talk to a few guards and Chunin after he got off the stage. If things were to go as he originally planned, now would be the time he would go back to his office and try to finish the growing mountain of paperwork that had been hovering over is conscience. But no, he had to have "fun". He walked over to his brother and Sune who had been talking until they saw him coming. "Hey, do you know where Temari is?" Kankuro ask his brother, "Sune said that she vanished a while ago," he explained.

Gaara shook his head, "I cannot say that I do," he said, "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Nah, just worried."

"I am sure she is fine, she can protect herself and security would know if anything happens."

Kankuro shook his head, "I know that, that's not why I'm worried." Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow.

"I'm sure she's fine, she won't be doing anything she'll regret later, she's not that kind of person" Sune smiled. Gaara was confused and started to worry.

"Yeah, but still..." Kankuro wondered.

"Stop worrying about your big sister, you're going to make Gaara worry and he already has plenty to worry about," Sune told him, "Now, this is a festival, go have fun or ask somebody to dance and join the others."

They all looked over at the others dancing to some up-beat music by the stage, "Yeah, you're right!" he exclaimed, "Hey Gaara, mind if a barrow your date for a dance!" he grinned.

"She is not my date."

"So I guess you won't mind then," Kankuro shrugged as he took Sune's hand and led her back to the dance floor, Sune waved at Gaara before following his brother willingly.

She ended up dancing for a few songs with a bunch of the guys and another song with the girls from the group. After that she finally decided to take a break so she made her way over to where Gaara was. He was sitting at one of the tables that were set up around the dance floor. "Hey!" she said as she sat down next to him, "Why didn't you go out there?"

He just looked at her and looked back at the people still dancing, "It looked like you were having fun," he stated.

"Yes, I was having fun," she smiled, "They are all wonderful people."

"I'm glad," he said quietly.

_("Eyes on Me" by Faye Wong, a slower song)_

_ Whenever sang my songs, on the stage on my own..._

_Whenever said my words, wishing they would be heard..._

Sune looked up suddenly, "Oh I love this song!" she exclaimed.

_ I saw you smiling at me, was it real or just my fantasy..._

_You'd always be there in the corner, of this tiny little bar..._

She looked to Gaara with pleading eyes. "Oh no," he said wide eyed.

"Pleeeeease," she begged just like she had in his office earlier that day, "Won't you dance with me?"

"Sorry," he said.

"Why?" she whined.

"I do not know how," he said looking away.

"Oh is that it?" she said standing up, "That's nothing to worry about, I'll show you," she took both his hands and tried to get him to get up and follow her but he resisted. "Oh, come on Gaara!" Sune begged him, "Just one dance."

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto yelled from the dance floor while slow dancing with Hinata, "Come on out here and dance with your girlfriend!"

Gaara was really starting to get irritated with those kinds of comments, but before he could say anything, Kankuro came up behind his chair and pushed Gaara out of his seat causing him to fall forward and his face coming dangerously close to Sune's. He was able to catch himself just before they touched. They stood there for a few moments before taking a step back, trying to hide the fact they were blushing.

"Well, get going little bro!" Kankuro said. Gaara glared at his brother as Sune took his hand and led him to the dance floor.

She stopped and so did he. When she turned to him, he just stood there, so she took his hands again and put them on her waist before taking a step closer and putting her hands around his neck. "Okay, now all you have to do is follow my lead," she said quietly. He nodded and followed.

"Yeah, that's it buddy," he heard Naruto say.

He looked over at his old friend and nodded, "Well, I am the Kazekage for a reason," he stated.

Naruto laughed, "That's right!" he grinned. Hinata laughed softly and Naruto returned his attention back to her.

Neji was with Tenten and he looked no happier about dancing than Gaara. Ino was with Sai, and Sai was still smiling his fake smile creepily while Ino couldn't look happier with her head resting on his shoulder. Naruto smiled while Hinata blushed. Sakura ended up dancing with Lee, she was fine with it and he couldn't be happier. Kiba and Kankuro were with the village girls. The others left the dance floor a while ago to do their own thing.

Gaara suddenly felt Sune lean in and rest her head on his shoulder, she had closed her eyes and started humming along with the song. He tried not to blush, but was failing miserably. Kankuro noticed and laughed slightly.

_(The rest of the song)_

_ My last night here for you, Same old songs just once more,_

_My last night here with you? Maybe yes, maybe no._

_I kind of liked it your way, How you shyly placed your eyes on me,_

_Did you ever know? That I had mine on you._

_Darling so there you are, With that look on your face,_

_As if you're never hurt, As if you're never down,_

_Shall I be the one for you? Who pinches you softly but sure,_

_If frown is shown then I will know that you are no dreamer._

_So let me come to you, Close as I want to be,_

_Close enough for me, To feel your heart beating fast,_

_And stay there as whisper, How I loved your peaceful eyes on me,_

_Did you ever know? That I had mine on you._

_Darling so share with me, Your love if you have enough,_

_Or tears if you're holding back, Or pain if that's what it is,_

_How can I let you know? I'm more than the dress and the voice,_

_Just reach me out then, You will know that you are not dreaming._

The song ended and Sune pulled away slightly to look at him, "You liar," she laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you said that you didn't know how to dance." He raised a nonexistent eyebrow, "Hurmm… Guess you're just a natural," she said, "Well, you are the Kazekage for a reason, so I guess it's no surprise," she quoted his earlier statement.

He did not say anything and then Suki began to speak on the stage, "Alright, the band is going to be taking a short break so thank your partner for dancing and enjoy the rest of the evening." She then bowed and left the stage. Sune looked around and saw the girls kiss their date on the cheek lightly before starting off to see the rest of the festival. Gaara started to walk off so she followed and took hold of his arm to walk with him. She was surprised to see that he did not try to go sit down again, but instead started off down one of the lit up streets filled with people. Many people bowed respectfully as they passed.

"Isn't that weird?" she asked.

"What is 'weird'?"

"Having people that are only like a year younger than you and older people treat you with such respect all the time."

He had to think about it for a second, "People have always treated me differently," he said.

"And?"

"And I guess it was weird at first, but I got use to it, as long as the people I try to protect are not running away from me in fear anymore, it is not so bad," he said simply.

"Uh-huh," she said wanting him to continue.

"The biggest adjustment I had to go through was being called 'Kazekage-sama', the title was my father's before mine, so it was strange having the title at first."

"That would be weird, like always be called someone else's name just because you look like them or something."

He nodded, "Even now, it's odd to go by 'sama' sometimes."

"Well, I guess I'll never call you 'Kazekage-sama' again," she laughed, "From now on it'll be just plain 'Gaara' whether you like it or not."

He gave a short weak smile," Thank you," he said quietly.

She grinned and hugged the arm she was holding, "No problem, Gaa-ra."

They continued walking quietly taking their time to look around and they even saw Naruto and Hinata. Naruto was trying to show off his shuriken/ kunai skills by playing a game where he was throwing darts at a target. He was winning and was making Hinata laugh at how he was playing. He would throw a dart while yawning and then he threw one over his shoulder while turned the opposite direction. After he won he gave his prize to Hinata and then they noticed Gaara and Sune watching, "Hey!" Naruto grinned as he ran up to them with Hinata following.

"Hi," Hinata greeted to them.

"What-cha up to?" Naruto asked.

"Just browsing," Gaara said.

"You must be an excellent ninja to have won that game so easily, Naruto-kun," Sune praised.

"You bet! I'm going to be the greatest!" Naruto grinned, "Even though I'm still a Genin…" he muttered.

"Don't worry Naruto-kun," Hinata consoled, "As soon as you take the exam, you'll pass easily and without fail."

"Yeah, I know but I have to be there for once to pass."

"Have you been on missions during the exams?" Sune asked.

"Yep, important S-rank missions!" Naruto grinned.

"I see," Sune said, "Well you know what will cheer you up?"

"What?" he asked.

"A nice hot bowl of ramen," Sune smiled.

Naruto suddenly looked very excited, "You know where I can get some!" Naruto asked and Hinata laughed slightly.

Sune nodded, "Yep, there's a ramen shop just down the street over there," she said pointing out the way.

"SWEET!" Naruto yelled, "Thanks Sune-chan! See you later Gaara! Come on Hinata let's go get ramen, my treat!" he said taking her hand and running off.

"That Naruto…" Gaara said shaking his head as he watched his friend run off for a simple food. Sune laughed. "How did you know he likes ramen so much?" he asked making her nervous.

"Well, you know," she started, "I have my ways."

"Uh-huh…" He said remembering about her special ability.

"Forget it and let's go," she said pulling him along with her. They walked quietly for a while before Sune finally looked up at Gaara. He looked tired. "Um Gaara?" she asked. He half grunted in response. "Do you want to sit down over there?" she pointed to a bench that did not have many people walking by. (It's just like the on the show in Konoha, where Sakura poured her heart out to Sasuke just before he leaves to be a homo with Orochi)

"Sure," he said wondering why she asked.

"Are you feeling alright?" she ask when they sat down.

"I'm fine," he said coldly, "Why is everybody asking me that?"

"Because you look exhausted," she said sliding closer to him so she could put her hand to his forehead, "You don't have the ability to never rest anymore, if you keep this up you'll end up ill," she explained. "You don't feel warm," said taking her hand away.

"You should not worry about me or my health."

"Well to bad I'm going to worry anyway." They were quiet as they looked up at the sky. "Hey Gaara?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Is this a date?"

That caught him off guard, "What?"

"You see, I didn't think this was going to be a date but it kinda feels like one," she explained.

"Then if this is one, I should apologize."

She blinked in confusion, "Huh?"

"I have not exactly been doing a good job," he explained still looking up at the sky, "I should have been trying to show you a nice time, is that what a guy is supposed to do on a date?"

"Well I suppose, but neither of us thought of this as a date, so it's not your fault, I really am having a great time anyway," she consoled.

"Are you really or are you just saying that because of who I am?"

She was a little offended that he would say that, even though she didn't blame him for wondering, "No of course not, I would never be dishonest with you," she said, "Look, I'm going to explain something to you so listen carefully and remember this." He looked at her and nodded. "All a girl wants is for a guy to be himself when she's with him, not for him to try to woo her, or impress her, or be something he's not," she explained as he listened, "And you're just being yourself and I accept you for who you are, I know you don't like being in social situations and that they make you uncomfortable, and I understand that because I'm kind of the same way, understand?" she finished.

He nodded slightly and looked at the ground, "I think so."

They sat quietly until Sune spoke again, "Do you want to try going on a real date?" she said shyly while blushing and playing with her fingers. _(Hinata style)_

"Together?" he asked and felt really stupid the moment after he said it.

"Um, yeah," she said confused, "And we could think of tonight as a practice date or something…"

He was silent while he thought about it. There was a little voice in his head that was screaming 'Say yes already you idiot!' "Okay," he said simply making her smile, "You think it will get everybody off our backs if we do this?" he asked.

She laughed softly, "It better, they haven't exactly been discreet about trying to set us up, it is really annoying."

"It is indeed," he agreed and then jumped slightly when he felt her kiss him on the cheek, "What was that for?" he asked trying not to blush.

"It was a thank you," she said simply.

"For what?"

"For being you and for dancing with me earlier, even though you didn't want to," she said noticing that she left a kiss mark with her lipstick on his face. Just then all the lights in that area started to dim and put an orange glow on to everything. Sune stood up immediately and looked around, "What's going on?" she asked.

"I do not know," he said making her jump because he was now directly behind her. He could sense people near by and was starting to worry.

"Oh look!" she said pointing at the night sky, "The stars are more visible now!" he looked up and admired the sky with her. When she looked back at him he was staring at her. She turned to him and started to lean in towards him when suddenly there was a crash and rustling sounds from nearby followed by voices and then Raven and Suki falling off a roof of a building.

"Ow, my neck!" Raven whined while sitting on the ground rubbing the back of her neck.

"Owie, that hurt!" Suki also whined while sitting on the ground rubbing her back.

Then Kankuro ran out from an ally and was asking if they were okay and such.

"What is going on here!" Gaara ordered.

"Uh…" All three hesitated.

"Wait a second, were you responsible for the lights just now?" Sune accused.

"Uh…" The three hesitated again.

Suddenly Raven jumped up, "Oh my gosh, look over there!" she yelled pointing behind Gaara and Sune.

Gaara and Sune quickly turned to look, but saw nothing. "Hey, there's nothing-" Sune started as she turned back but saw nobody there, "They're gone!"

"I cannot believe we fell for that…" Gaara said ashamed.


	16. Togetherness

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 16**

**Togetherness**

The two stood there in silence before Sune started laughing. "What is so funny?" Gaara asked confused and a little worried.

"Everything!" she said still laughing.

"I do not understand, why are you laughing?"

"I… don't… know." It was becoming hard to talk, and she was holding her abdomen she was laughing so hard. Gaara just stood there dumbfounded. He did not get it at all, and even if he did he knew he would not be laughing. He watched Sune go and sit down again as her laughing fit ended and she wiped her eyes. She sighed, "Ah, I needed that," she said looking at him.

"Huh?"

"Haven't you ever just needed to laugh something away to feel better?"

"I do not really…" he started looking away, "Laugh much… at all."

"Aw, that can't be true!" He looked away embarrassed. "Oh, I see," she said hoping she had not upset him, "You'll laugh when you feel like laughing," she stood up and took his hand, leading him off, "Come on, let's see if we can't find those stalkers and scare them or something!"

"Okay," he said following.

Sune stopped suddenly making Gaara bump into her from behind, "Uh-oh," she said and quickly tried to lead Gaara in the other direction, but it was too late and he saw something that made him quiver with anger.

~~~ Earlier ~~~

"This is a drag!" Shikamaru groaned as he walked through the village with Temari. He had not wanted to stick around for the little reunion, it was too troublesome to pretend like he cared. Really, he had not wanted to be here for this festival in the first place. So when nobody was looking, he snuck off from the rest of the group hoping to find a place to sit and watch the sky by himself. Unfortunately, Temari was thinking the same thing and had snuck off at the same time. They had been together a lot in the past months regarding the Chunin exams and had become pretty close to friends, so they decided to keep each other company. That means Temari decided and Shikamaru could not do anything about it even if he wanted to. It was too troublesome to argue with a woman like her anyway.

"Would you stop complaining for once," Temari scolded, "Can't you try to have fun, in a way that doesn't involve sitting and playing board games."

"Yeah, yeah…"

"Humph!"

"Women…" he muttered under his breath.

"You still going on about that!" she scolded again but smiled, "Geez, you're so troubleso-" she cut herself off when she realized what she was about to say and he looked at her surprised, "Oh gosh, you're rubbing off on me!"

He laughed slightly, "You women are so-"

"Troublesome, right ?" she finished for him smirking.

"Heh, yeah." People were staring at them as they walked by. "Why are people staring?" he asked.

She blushed, "Because people aren't use to seeing me with a guy other then by brothers."

"I see…" he said and started blushing also. For how smart he was, he could not understand why he felt like this when he was with her.

"Oh my gosh!" she suddenly gasped.

"Wha-" he started but was cut off when she suddenly grabbed him by the arm and pulled him into a narrow ally. They stood silently facing each other with their bodies nearly pressed together in the narrow ally. Their faces only inches away from the one another. They were looking at each other and both blushing a deep red.

He finally spoke, "What the heck is going on?" he whispered.

"I saw Gaara," she whispered slowly.

"So?" he did not get it.

"I don't know what he'll do if he sees us together."

"Well, it's not like were 'together' together."

"He doesn't know that, and he and Kankuro both are really protective of me, I don't want something to happen and cause a scene and have you get hurt."

He sighed, "This is a drag," he groaned again, "I'll go out first and see if the coast is clear," he said as he slipped out of the ally.

She saw him look around, "It's clear," he said to her and she step out and over to him. They stood pretty close together in order to stay out of the way of others passing by.

"Um," she started, "Shikamaru?"

"Hn?"

"Thanks," she blushed.

"No problem," he scratched the back of his head. They stood there silently and they could feel the situation getting awkward and the eyes of people looking at them.

She needed to say something, "You know," she started, "I never knew you could clean up so well," she stated regarding his formal clothes. He was wearing a light green and black kimono, even though everything about the way we was wearing it said 'I'm lazy and don't care'.

He blushed slightly and scratched the back of this head again, "Yeah, yeah," he said, "I could say the same about you, you look very much like a woman like that."

She was wearing a red and light purple kimono and she also had her hair down and it was flipped outward. Unexpectedly she grabbed his head and pulled his face to hers to kiss him. He was confused and caught off guard but made no move to stop. She pulled away quickly, "I'm sorry," she said blushing deeply.

"Huh?" he was also blushing deeply.

"It's just," she started, "You treat me like a woman not just a shinobi, it makes me feel… well I don't know, I just wanted… to…" she was to embarrassed to talk anymore and it did not help that she could not figure out what she wanted to say_. ~'Oh, why did I do that! I'm so stupid!'~_ she mentally scolded herself.

"Temari?" she heard Shikamaru say and she looked at him, he was smiling, "After tonight, do you want to go out sometime?" he asked.

"Like a date?"

"Yeah, like a date."

She thought about it for a moment, "Only if we're exclusive," she blushed.

"Sure," he said understanding. He was from the Leaf and she was from the Sand, they would not see each other often and who's to say that they would not try to have somebody in each village, even though he was too lazy to try that in the first place.

She smiled, "Then sure."

"Seal the deal?" she asked with a cocky smirk.

She laughed slightly before nodding and leaning in to lightly kiss him again.

~~~ Now ~~~

Gaara bumped into Sune and looked up immediately to see his sister locking lips with that lazy genius Shikamaru. He felt himself suddenly get infuriated as Sune tried to pull him away to keep him from seeing what he already saw.

"Temari! What the hell do you think you are doing!" he yelled. Sune had never heard Gaara raise his voice before and started to get frightened.

"Gaara!" Temari exclaimed when she saw him.

"Oh crap…" Shikamaru groaned knowing we was royally screwed as he saw sand rise up from the ground. Because Gaara was in his home land, he did not have his gourd or the need for his chakra infused sand that would be in it. The nearby people began to hurry off from the potential fight about to break out.

More sand began to gather around, "I swore to kill you once…" Gaara said a low dark tone. Shikamaru was unsure what to do. If he ran the sand would surely catch him. He could fight back, but this was not only the Kazekage he would be dealing with but his, now, girlfriend's little brother.

Gaara, calm down!" Temari tried. Gaara was not going to have it, he would not allow anyone to hurt his only sister.

Sune looked at Gaara concerned and afraid. He was not thinking straight and he could not see that they cared about each other, and was not even sure how far he intended to go, was he really going to try to kill him and risk all the progress he had managed to create with Konoha? Sune quickly gathered confidence when Temari looked at her then at Gaara and back. She quickly stepped in front of him, "Gaara stop this!"

He looked down at her coldly, "Stay out of this," he ordered. Even though she understood, she glared at him and quickly threw her mind into his. In the way she swore she would never do, but she felt she had no choice.

Temari and Shikamaru saw Gaara and Sune freeze and then all the sand suddenly fall to the ground. Temari knew that it was Sune that stopped him and took the opportunity to take Shikamaru and flee while promising herself to explain everything to her bother in the morning when he would be calmer.

Sune stood directly in front of Gaara inside his mind. He looked at her shocked and confused. "I'm sorry, but you need to understand that Temari cares about him and she thinks about him all the time. She doesn't need you to scare him off or for you to be over-protective of her. She can take care of herself and you of all people should know that better than anybody," she explained quickly, she could already feel herself becoming tired. "You don't want to hurt the people she cares about because that would be hurting her too, don't you understand how she feels?"

He looked sad and guilty, "I do not," he said quietly.

"It's love, Gaara," she explained sadly, "Don't you understand that?"

"I do not," he said again. She was hoping that he would say yes.

"Yes, you do," she said quickly, she was losing her hold on his mind, "You love your family, your friends, and your village, I know you do, you care about all of them, think about them all the time, and you would do anything for them…" she was starting to slip away but she was determined to finish, "…don't you love them? And what about me? I know think that about me, don't you love-" She lost her grip and returned to the real world. She could not look at him. Sune could not believe how far she had gone to try to make a point to this emotionally retarded shinobi she was swooning over. Though she did not regret saying it, she was afraid of his answer, if he answered.

She was feeling so many emotions at once she felt like crying. Gaara stared at her astonished while he tried to think about what had just happened. He saw a tear run down the side of her face and felt a very unwelcome wave of guilt, he made her cry.

Sune could feel the tears start to flow from her eyes. She started to reach up to cover her face and wipe her eyes, but just before her hands reached her face, she felt Gaara wrap his arms around her and hold her close. She still did not look at him, but instead buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Sune?" he asked and as he spoke she could feel the vibrations of his voice against her body.

"Hn?" she answered into his kimono.

"Do you really have feelings for me?" he ask her dumbly.

She did not know why, but she felt embarrassed, "What kind of feelings?" she asked avoiding the question.

"I think, r-romantic," he said. He knew that asking this was dumb and that any other person would already know, but he wanted to hear her say it, and know the truth. She buried her face farther into his kimono and said something that was too muffled to hear. "I could not hear you, Sune?" he said and then caught a whiff of her hair just below his nose, vanilla and raspberries.

Finally, she looked up at him blushing, "Um… I… well… yes, I do," she stuttered wishing that she could say it normally, but she was too nervous and she hated it. But she smiled softly when she looked at his face, he still had the lipstick kiss mark on his cheek. He did not say anything and just looked deep into her eyes, he felt as if he never wanted to let go of her. All the feelings he had when he was with her were new, strange, and confusing, but they were strong.

Sune frowned when he did not say a word or show any emotion on his face. She felt she was going to cry again so she buried her face back into his chest so he could not see her as she tried to put her emotions back in order. They both stood quietly before he finally spoke, "Yes," he said quietly but confidently.

"Huh?"

"Yes," he repeated. Suddenly she realized what he was saying. He was answering her unfinished question and in his own way admitting that he loved, and loved her. She read his mind, ~'_I do care about you too, I want nothing but to make you happy and protect you and never see you cry again.'~ _he thought as if he knew she was in his head.

Sune felt overjoyed and smiled widely. He smiled a small one of his own, he had made her happy with just one word. She jumped up wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek, leaving another lipstick kiss mark on the other side of his face. He blushed slightly. Sune could no longer resist, she wanted to finally kiss him. She started to close the very short space between their lips, and a little to her surprise, so did he.

"Oooooooooo!" a bunch of voices called out at once just before they touched. They quickly broke apart and looked at the small crowd of their friends and some grinning knowingly, making them blush with embarrassment.

"Soooo?" Naruto grinned, "What-cha up to?"

"I thought you told me she wasn't your girlfriend!" Lee whined.

"That's because she was not," Gaara said normally.

"Oh yeah! Pay up Kiba!" Kankuro exclaimed as he held out his hand.

"Aw man…" Kiba pouted as he pulled out a wad of cash and handed it to Kankuro. Then Gaara and Sune saw Neji hand over some money to Lee, Sakura to Ino, and Nauto to Hinata.

"What were all of you betting on?" Gaara demanded looking at his brother.

"Oh well, you see….uh," he hesitated.

"We had a wager of when you and Sune would realize your feelings and end up together," it was Hinata who spoke up in such a kind voice that nobody could get mad. Gaara was about to say that Sune is not his girlfriend, but now because of the events that have taken place tonight, he was not so sure.

"Um, Gaara?" Naruto asked when nobody else said anything.

"What Naruto?"

"You've got a little something on your face there," he said gesturing the side of the face by pointing at his own and giving his trademark grin.

"Huh?" he said confused when everybody including Sune started laughing under their breath. Hinata stepped over to them with Naruto following and handed Gaara a small pocket mirror and Sune a napkin. Gaara's eyes went wide when he saw the lipstick on his face. He had been walking around this whole time and did not even notice, no wonder everybody was looking at him unusually weird tonight.

Sune giggled softly, "I'm sorry," she said and started wiping away the lipstick. He felt ridiculous letting Sune do this with everybody watching. Sune handed the mirror back to Hinata, "Thank you Hinata," she smiled even though she was disappointed that everyone showed up when they did.

"Well, we're all going to catch a show and we wanted to know if you two wanted to join," Naruto said.

"I probably shouldn't, I need to get back to my office soon to finish a few things," Gaara said, "You can still go Sune."

"Um, sure," she agreed. She would have much rather stayed with Gaara, but she knew his work was important and if they were going to be together after tonight she would need to accept that.

"Oh, come on Gaara," Kankaro started, "We both know that it doesn't NEED to get done right now, just come with," he said with a village girl hanging onto his arm, obviously his date for the night. Gaara was about to say that he was not going, but noticed Sune looking at him with pleading eyes, then was quickly distracted by Naruto throwing an arm around his neck and getting put into a half-head-lock as Naruto began to drag him off with everybody else.

"Alright, we're gonna start heading over there," Naruto said as he started off with Hinata and let go of Gaara.

"Guess you have no choice now," Sune giggled as she took hold of his arm again and led him to follow the others.

"I guess," he said rolling his eyes.

At the theater they saw a sappy romance. Besides their group there was not a lot of other people there. Things were starting to get awkward for Sune and the other girls as some people she did not know in the theater had started lightly making-out and being all lovey-dovey.

"It's people like that, that are making this nice clean theater seem dirty," Sakura commented to Sune. She nodded in agreement and tried to keep her eyes on the show, but every once in a while she looked over at Gaara who had been sitting next to her, and noticed him struggling to stay awake. He obviously had no interest in the show and it was starting to get late as it was. Sune learned that Naruto and Lee really got into things like this as they stated shouting out things. They were probably the only reason Gaara, Shino, and Neji were even still awake by the end of it.


	17. Accepting

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 17**

**Accepting**

After another couple hours of enjoying the festival, Naruto, Kiba, Kankuro, Neji, Tenten, Sai, and Ino said they were going to do more stuff during the festival while the others said they were going back to their hotel rooms for the night. Sune told Gaara and Kankuro that she would hang out with Sakura and Hinata for a little while to do some shopping before she would head back to the Kazekage building for the night.

Gaara watched everyone leave before finally heading back to his office, but when he arrived he saw some of the files that he was suppose to do, before tomorrow, were neatly stacked on his desk and already done. _~'Raven and Suki must have finished it,'~ _he thought as he looked through some of the papers. This alone was a large chunk taken out of his list of things to do. He sat in his chair still in his formal clothes and drummed his fingers on the edge of the desk trying to decide what to do.

Soon Gaara saw the door open slightly, he had not closed it all the way when he entered. He looked up expecting to see a person, but saw nobody there until he heard a cat's meow and looked down at the door to see Sune's cat, Bo. The two looked at each for several moments before Gaara spoke to the cat, "She is not here and will not be back for a while," he explained to Bo feeling a little awkward that he was actually talking to the cat, but he did not know what else he could do. Bo meowed in response and made his way across the room until he was next to Gaara then meowed again. "What do you want?" Gaara asked looking at the cat and Bo yawned, "I agree, I am tired too," he said feeling like yawning himself before Bo jumped onto the desk in front of him and they stared at each other until Gaara patted Bo's head as if he was afraid that he was going to get swat at. As Bo pushed his head farther into his hand, he started to rub the cat's head and neck. "Did you want attention?" Bo soon stood up to jump off the desk and go towards the door before stopping and looking back at the Kazekage and meowed again. "Very well," Gaara said following the cat.

The two went through the Kazekage building and all the way to the hallway of bedrooms. Bo ran into Sune's room and looked at Gaara in the doorway. "She is not back yet," he told the cat before going to his room at the end of the hall. As he was about to close the door, Bo ran in under his feet and jumped onto the bed and got comfortable. "Are you sure you want to be in here?" he asked but Bo just blinked at him with big innocent kitten eyes. Gaara left his door open a hair so Bo could get out if he needed to use the litter box in Sune's bathroom or something. Gaara quickly discarded his formal clothes so he was in his pants, to tired to change into proper sleeping clothes, he quickly got under the covers and laid face down for a moment until he felt something against his back. He looked to see Bo half on top of him. "I do not think you want to be there, I might roll on you," Gaara warned so Bo went to the foot of the bed and curled up and fell asleep just before Gaara did.

~~~ Later ~~~

Later Sune returned to the Kazekage building and went straight to her room with a couple bags with her purchases from the shopping she had done with her new friends from Konoha. She set the bags by the end of her bed and went to the bathroom to wash up a little so she could get her make-up off and to get changed for bed. As she brushed her teeth she wondered if anyone else was back yet, it was one in the morning already. Sune put on a tank top and some soft shorts for the night, before she crawled into bed. She quickly realized Bo was nowhere to be seen and she wondered where he was getting himself into trouble tonight. Forgetting it, she curled up under the warm soft covers and went to sleep.

Sune woke up again a couple hours later after a terrible nightmare disturbed her peaceful slumber. She knew exactly where it came from, she was expecting it after what she did during the festival. Because she had used her ability to actually communicate to Gaara in his mind, she was temporarily still linked to him. She dreamt his nightmare. There was so much blood, slaughter, and screams of terror and agony while also hearing the malevolent laughter of what could only be a demon, she knew it had to be a demon because she could see the eyes watching her. The black and gold color of the eyes emanated evil from them, it was unmistakable.

Sune rolled over and tried to go to sleep again, but every time she drew near sleep, she would see those eyes and hear the screams. She found herself getting irritated at Gaara for having such a dream. After another half hour of this, she had it, so she threw the covers off and got up to go wake him up and stop the dream herself. It was an impulse in her sleep deprived state.

She opened the door quietly to his moonlit room. She could tell right away he was still having the nightmare, but could not help but smile when she saw Bo licking his face and hand attempting to wake him up. Bo turned to her and went to her to rub on her legs then back to the bed and walked in circles. "I know, I'm on it, don't worry," Sune whispered to Bo.

~~~ The Next Day ~~~

Morning came too soon for the young Kazekage as he opened his eyes from his restless sleep to see the light from the morning sun illuminate his bedroom. Just like every other teen, he did not want to get up so early and leave the warm soft bed. He laid on his front on the edge of his bed with one arm hanging off the side. He felt something warm and soft brush against the hand that was hanging and he looked down to see Bo so he rubbed the cat's head and neck. Bo meowed and jump on the bed and over Gaara to the other side. Gaara closed his eyes again to try to get a little more sleep.

While still awake he could smell something, it smelt good and familiar. He wondered where he had smelled this mixture of vanilla and raspberries before. He turned over to meet big green eyes with long eyelashes blinking at him. He quickly sat up to see Sune looking up at him and he blinked a few times trying to figure out if this was an illusion or dream.

"Good morning," she smiled nervously, "Anything in particular you want for breakfast?" she had an anime sweat drop.

He sat up completely, "What? How did you-" he started in his still groggy state, but as he backed away he put his hand down behind him expecting to find the edge of the bed, but found empty space instead causing him to fall off as he put his weight down on that hand and landed on the floor with a loud thud. He rubbed the back of his head and blinked a few times until he saw Sune leaning over the edge of the bed between his feet.

"I never new you were a klutz, are you okay?" Sune asked worried.

"Oh my gosh!" somebody exclaimed from the doorway and Sune whipped around and Gaara shot to his feet to see Kankuro standing there with a shocked expression. The three of them stood there is silence until Bo hissed and scratched at Kankuro then chased him down the hallway and the other two heard Kankuro run into his room screaming 'evil rabid cat' like a little girl.

"What was that about?" Gaara asked.

"I should probably explain," Sune smiled sheepishly.

"Yeah, you should," he said plainly avoiding looking at her while he grabbed some clothes and went into his bathroom. She sat at the end of the bed with Bo in her lap and spoke to him through the door. She explained that after several attempts to wake him up nicely because of the nightmare that was effecting her as well, she went and got a metal pan and spoon. She had got all the way on the bed kneeling next to him and when she was about to bang them together over him, she realized he was just fine and sleeping normally again. When she was about to move to get up and take Bo, she somehow got pinned under his arm and then after Bo jumped on her and got comfortable and since she was so exhausted and did not want to disturb the now finally resting Kazekage, she gave up and stayed there. She planned to get up before he did, but that obviously did not happen.

Gaara stepped out of his bathroom, "I apologize for disturbing your sleep and if I made you feel uncomfortable last night, I did not know," he said before putting on his coat and stepping out of the room.

She followed, "It's okay it's not like it was awkward or anything," she lied about the awkward part, "The worst part is now Kankuro might have got the wrong idea when he saw us."

"What do you mean?"

She could not believe he did not get it. "Never mind, you don't need to know," she then laughed nervously, "Wait breakfast! I should probably start that!" she said before running into her room closing the door behind her and running back out a minute later completely dressed in her regular clothes.

As Sune prepared breakfast, Temari returned and was greeted my Kankuro, "Hey you're finally back, where were you?" he asked his sister.

"I was out," Temari said simply, "Where were you, did you just get back yourself? You haven't even changed yet," she observed.

"Yeah I got back a little while ago, and you wouldn't believe what I saw!"

"What?" Temari said only mildly interested as she took off her shoes. Kankuro whispered it in her ear like telling a secret and Temari's eyes went wide, "No way!" she exclaimed before thinking, "Wait a minute there must be more to story than that, it's not like they would do anything stupid."

"Yeah I know, but still, I think we finally got them together," Kankuro whispered.

"We'll see… My gosh Kankuro, you SINK!" Temari said covering her nose.

"Eh?" he said before sniffing himself.

"You reek of alcohol, what were you doing all night?"

"It's not what you think, really! Let me explain! Ouch!" he cried as she started hitting him but soon stopped and he explained, "You see, me and some of the guys went to get something to eat okay? And there was this guy sitting in the same shop we were in and apparently he had an alcoholic drink of some sort sitting there. Then when that Lee guy reached for his drink he accidentally picked up this other guys, see?"

"That doesn't explain why YOU smell of alcohol…" Temari gritted her teeth.

"I'm not finished yet," Kankuro put up his hands defensively, "Well Lee was about to drink it before both Neji and Kiba jumped at him and knocked the drink out of his hand and it landed on me. Apparently Lee is never allowed to drink because he has zero tolerance and is the most violent and crazy drunk you'll meet. I suggested that they should've let him have it so I could see that, but they assured me that seeing him like that isn't worth the property damage and injuries that would result."

"So a drink was knocked out of somebody's hand and it got all over you?" Temari repeated, "Geez Kankuro, next time just tell me the truth and don't throw poor Lee under the bus while making ridicules excuses!" she scolded not believing him and then left to go to her room so she could shower and change.

"This isn't fair… I haven't done anything to make my own family mistrust me…" Kankuro pouted following Temari's example to shower and change before breakfast.

~~~ Later ~~~

"Come on, Sune," Kankuro pouted at breakfast after telling her his story of the night before, "At least you've got to believe me!"

"Mmmm," Sune said thinking, "Are you sure pretty girls didn't throw their drink in your face? Your pick up lines are the worst!"

"Hey, that hasn't happen in a while!" Kankuro said as Temari laughed outright at him and Gaara tried to hold back a smile, he was amused by this as well.

"Kankuro," Sune started, "Why do you hit on every pretty girl you meet anyway?" she asked curious.

He groaned, "You guys wouldn't understand…"

"Try me," Sune said.

"Grrr fine," he spat, "I do it so I won't miss meeting the one."

"Aw Kankuro, that's sweet putting it that way, but you're going about it all wrong," Sune started.

"What do you mean?" he asked not understanding.

"You'll know the one when you see her, not after seeing her reaction to your cheesy pick up line," Sune explained. By this point Gaara was done eating and got up to leave and head to his office.

Kankuro thought about what Sune said, "I don't know…" he finally said.

"Just try not hitting on every girl you meet for a little while and see what happens," Sune said, "And if you know you missed meeting the one, you can blame me." Kankuro reluctantly agreed.

~~~ Later ~~~

In the Kazekage's office, Gaara handed Naruto an envelope. Naruto blinked at it, "This is it? What is it?" he asked.

"Open it," Gaara told him and Naruto did to find a few sheets of paper, he then looked at Gaara questioningly, "Read it."

Naruto skimmed it then did a double take and read it more closely, "Is this a joke? Aw man Gaara you shouldn't have! You're the best! Is this for real?"

Gaara nodded, "There is a condition, you can only use that if you miss the next Chunin exam again and in that case all you have to do is get Tsunade-sama's permission and you're a Chunin and then Jonin in no time. No more unneeded tests for somebody that is obviously more than qualified according to the reports."

Naruto beamed then jumped on Gaara hugging and crying on him. Of course this is the moment where a bunch of people that they both know walk in to see Gaara being hugged half to death while trying to pry Naruto off him both physically and with sand.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded running to them trying prying Naruto off, "I think dying once this year is enough for Gaara-sama!"

With that Naruto let go his death grip, "Oh right, sorry Sakura-chan, Gaara," he apologized while rubbing the back of his head.

Later Gaara and Naruto stood at the exit of Sunagakure. "Sorry we have to leave so soon again," Naruto apologized, "But I'll come back to visit real soon!" he grinned.

Gaara nodded understanding, "I better hear of you becoming Hokage soon," he smirked, "Not that I mind Tsunade-sama, but…"

"But what?" Naruto blinked curious.

"I am getting tired of waiting."

Naruto laughed, "Hey, I know you beat me to Kage but you don't need to rub it in!" he kidded.

"Still, no one is better for the role as Hokage than you, Uzumaki Naruto," Gaara commented, "Just hurry it up."

Naruto looked at Gaara astonished before he grinned and scratched the back of his head, "Sure thing," he promised.

After Gaara and his siblings said their goodbyes to the guests from Konoha they returned to their duties. The Kazekage sat down at his desk still feeling tired just before Sune strode in and sat down on the couch, "Hey," she greeted with a smile.

"Hello," he said simply feeling slightly uncomfortable due to a strange fluttery feeling in his stomach as they looked at each other.

"Did they leave already?" she asked knowing he would know who she was asking about.

"They did," he answered and she nodded. He took out some papers and looked at them and remembered something, "Sune?"

"Yes Gaara?" she said using just his name like she said she would.

"Would you like to work as a medical ninja in the hospital?" he asked making sure it did not sound like an order.

"But I only know the basics of medical jutsu, I'm better with methods that don't involve chakra," she explained even though she would love to have this opportunity to help people.

"Though your skills have improved greatly, and I can arrange for somebody to instruct you for a short time and find out whether now you may be able to do more, if not, we could still use an extra pair of capable trusted hands as a nurse or you could have your own division using just the natural methods," he suggested.

She thought about it for a moment, "So more training?" she asked.

"Only if you want to, but please take some time to think about it, you can tell me your decision any time," he told her.

"Okay, I'll think about it," she said just before Temari came into the office.

"Gaara," she started, "The elders have called a meeting," she informed.

"Why, what for?" he asked standing up. He hoped it was not something pointless again that could wait until the scheduled meeting the next day.

"There was a raid on a nearby village just outside the desert to the west, I think it's called Tasine town," she explained, "They want to talk about whether or not and how many people to send over to help."

"Very well," he said standing up quickly and Temari turned to leave. As he stood up his vision suddenly blurred and darkness settled in the edges of his sight. He just focused on what was suppose to be in front of him as his vision steadily returned to normal.

Sune watched Gaara as he stared into space still standing at his desk, "Gaara, are you alright?" she asked.

"I am fine," he said before heading out the door. Sune followed not believing him, he had been acting strange for a while now and she wanted to know what was wrong.

Gaara continued down the corridor to the meeting hall feeling unusually light headed and again his vision started to blur, but this time the darkness completely invaded his vision. The next thing he knew he heard Sune calling his name.

"Gaara? Are you alright?" Sune asked worried kneeling next to him as he looked at her from his position on the floor. He blinked at her not sure what was happening and found himself trying to get up but was stopped by Sune after he sat up, "Don't try to stand yet," she told him and he obliged.

"Gaara?" Temari said running to his side, "What happened?"

"I think he passed out or fainted," Sune answered.

_~'Fainted?'~ _he thought confused before Sune put her hand to his forehead.

"Hm, he feels warm," she said and he felt his face heat up, "How often does he get sick?" she asked Temari.

"Never," Temari said, "He does look flushed right now and he doesn't just pass out for no reason. Should I get a medical nin?"

"No," Gaara said reminding them he can still speak as he pulled away and stood up.

"But Gaa-" they both started.

"No, I will not have it," he started, "And nobody can know about what just happened," he said even as he tried to keep himself from swaying. _~'What's wrong with me?'~ _

After only a little convincing, Sune and Temari were able to get Gaara to agree to rest for a while and let Sune try to figure out what is wrong while Temari went to the meeting to make something up on his behalf and to take care of things with Kankuro's help.

Gaara sat on his bed and stared at the floor while Sune put a glass of water on the end table and she was about to turn to leave him alone. "What's wrong with me?" he asked and she went and sat next to him.

"I don't know," she answered, "Maybe it has to do with why you've never been sick before."

"The Shukaku?"

"Maybe," she said, "So now maybe there is nothing or not as much stopping you from getting sick." he looked at her then back to the floor, "It doesn't help that you don't sleep much, I don't know what you do at night, but you need to take care of yourself, you're under a lot of stress" she reminded.

He did not know that she knew he would leave again at night when he decided to work or train, "I am sorry," he said.

She looked at him surprised, "Don't be, it's not your fault," she said taking his hand. She wished she could make it all better. "How about I make you some of the special tea my mom would make for me when I was sick? It always made me feel better," she suggested. He nodded so she pecked him on the cheek and left to make the tea. When she returned a sort time later he was asleep and had taken off his coat and vest which was now at the end of the bed.

Sune sat with him until Temari returned and Sune left to get a few things for him. Gaara woke to see Temari sitting on the floor playing with Bo in his room. Temari noticed him stir, "You're awake," she stated, "Sune left to get some medicine and stuff for a special tea she said her aunt taught her to make." He nodded. "Are you feeling any better?" she asked so he tried to sit up, but groaned and laid back down, "I guess not," she observed. They were quiet for several minutes before Temari spoke again, "Can we talk?"

"About what?" he asked.

"Me and Shikamaru," she admitted and she saw his fist clench.

"I suppose."

"Do you really disapprove of him?" she asked, "I want to know what you really think, it's important to me that my brothers are okay with the guys I choose to be with."

He sighed, "It's not that I don't approve of him, he is a smart and capable shinobi," he admitted.

"Then why did you freak out when you saw us together?"

He sighed again unsure why, "I… I don't want to see you get hurt or taken away," he said, "But you don't have to worry about me interfering, I know you can make your own decisions."

Temari smiled, "So it's okay if I continue seeing Shikamaru?" he nodded, "Thank you Gaara, I wish Kankuro would understand like you do, it's not easy having two overprotective brothers you know."

"I am sorry, we cannot help it."

"I know, but I'm your sister so I have a right to be annoyed," she grinned.

"Better Shikamaru than Hojo from the bank."

Temari shivered at the thought, "That's for sure."


	18. The Date

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 18**

**The Date**

Gaara was trapped inside his own room because his siblings and Sune would not let him leave and kept telling him to rest for the day, and to even take the next day off since he has not had some time off in a long time. Still, he refused to let any medical ninja see him. After Sune checked on him, her diagnosis was that he simply fainted from fatigue, stress, and lack of nutrition based on the symptoms he described from before he fainted. She told him to take the rest of the day off as well and rest while she made more tea and got dinner ready. He reluctantly obliged and did as he was told, not that he had a choice.

Sune prepared dinner with Temari, whose skills have improved greatly so she did most of the work while Sune lectured Kankuro on etiquette and manners when meeting a girl, or anybody for that matter, since he's the Kazekage's older brother, a high ranking ninja, and a part of the village counsel. Kankuro told Sune that he already knows all that stuff, but agrees that it might be a good idea to start trying to put them to use next time he wants to talk to an agreeable girl. She was impressed that he was open to trying so quickly, she assumed it was because it was her telling him instead of Temari, even though she was right, it was different when it was someone other than his sister is nagging him.

Afterwards, Sune brought Gaara his food then ended up eating with him while lounging on the bed and watching a movie. They even paused the movie to make popcorn and change into more comfortable clothes. They both changed into sweats and a shirt. To her surprise, she was actually having fun with him. At one point she could not stop laughing when he made a connection to the movie and Raven and Suki. Part of the reason it was so funny to her was it was him that said it, she could hardly believe it.

As the movie started its ending credits, Gaara turned off the TV and turned to Sune to say it was probably time for her to go to bed since it was late now. Instead as he opened his mouth to speak he realized that she was already asleep. He thought about picking her up and taking her back to her room, but she looked so peaceful and content that he did not want to risk disturbing her slumber. He decided to let her be for that reason, but mostly because he wanted her to stay with him, he felt at peace when she was around. After watching her sleep for several minutes he put the empty popcorn bowl on the end table, turned off the light, and pulled the covers over her before kissing her temple and whispering goodnight then he followed her into sleep.

Temari and Kankuro could hardly believe their eyes as they watched this little scene while peeking through the small crack of the door that Sune did not shut all the way when she came in. Temari closed the door as quietly as she possibly could and they both shared a look before they grinned and high-fived.

Sune was first to awaken early the next morning to find that she was not in her room like she expected. It took her a few moments to register that she was in Gaara's room again, and she blushed and mentally scolded herself for not going to her own room when she first started feeling tired. Sune's blush deepened when she realized that she was half on top of him from rolling at some point in her sleep and that he even had his arms around her. Not that she minded, she was actually quite comfortable. When she shifted slightly his embrace tightened, she smiled at the thought that he might actually be a cuddler.

When she awoke again she found herself alone in the bed so she sat up to see sand floating around the room. The sand went to a dresser, opened some of the drawers, and picked up some clothes while keeping them still neatly folded. She watched as the sand took the clothes to the bathroom. She thought that must be quite handy as she got up and snuck through the hall to her room to shower and get dressed.

During breakfast, Temari and Kankuro did a nice job of pretending to be oblivious, not. They both gave Sune knowing looks and smiled when they came into the kitchen to get some food, but Sune could not figure out why they were acting so strangely. When Gaara came in Temari ran over to him and started hugging him, "Little brother!" she cooed as she smothered him and he blushed while trying to get away. Kankuro just slapped his hand on Gaara's back and grinned and winked. Gaara just looked at them as if they were crazy.

"Sune?" Gaara started when his siblings left to start their day, "What are your plans for the day?"

"Um," she thought as she washed the dishes, "I don't really have any, I was thinking of staying here and keeping you company if you're not going anywhere."

"Would you like to go somewhere with me?" he asked in his usual manner from the kitchen table.

She blushed as she continued doing the dishes not turning around, "Like for our date?" she asked curious if he was just being polite.

"Yes," he answered and she blushed more while smiling, "Perhaps consider it a continuation of last night."

"So we aren't going to a movie again," she confirmed, "Do you have plans or are we going to wing it? You know, so I know how to dress."

"I have already planned, and what you are wearing is fine," he said and she gave him a 'yeah right' look because she had not change out of her sweats yet.

"Okay, I assume I'm dressing casual if you think _This_ is fine," she said so she dried her hands now that she was done with the dishes and pecked him of the cheek saying she was going to get ready and start the laundry before they go.

First stop on the date was a light lunch while they talked. Sune thought it went perfect besides the fact that some of the younger teen girls kept staring or glaring at her. It was making her uncomfortable and it took Gaara shooting a glare at everybody who was looking at them to get the people to go about their own business and leave them alone.

As the couple walked together, Sune noticed a sweets shop and dragged Gaara in with her. He had her pick out whatever she wanted and said he would get them for her. Not having much of a sweat tooth himself he picked out some simple chocolate chip cookies he liked for himself, as well as a gift box of sweats telling Sune he was going to take them to someone that he is going to have her meet soon. She only got a couple things not wanting to take advantage of him, but decided to also get some things for each of his siblings. He agreed that might be a good idea.

Sune walked beside Gaara as he led her to a bookstore. As they walked in it seemed to be empty until two small children ran in and jumped on Gaara's legs while shouting their excited greetings. "Hello Kiki," Gaara greeted the little girl of about three years old with dark hair and big blue eyes, "Hello Tokito," he greeted the little boy who looked a year older than the girl and he had light brown hair and the same blue eyes.

Immediately after he greeted the children, a pregnant woman came in with dark eyes and the same dark hair as the little girl, Kiki. She told the children to get off Gaara before greeting him, "Hello Gaara, it's been a while since I've seen you here, what genre are you looking for today?" she smiled and then looked at Sune, "Oh, you've brought somebody with you, hello I'm Aiya," she greeted Sune.

Sune smiled and bowed slightly, "Hello Aiya, I'm Sune," she introduced.

"Aiya-san," Gaara started, "I brought a gift for you and Tokito and Kiki," he said giving her the box of sweets he just purchased.

"Oh thank you Gaara," she said taking it, "You really don't have to bring us something every time you visit."

"I know, but I still want to."

After a sort explanation from Gaara, Sune learned that this is the family of one of the watch shinobi that died that night he was kidnapped.

"Oh I'm so sorry," Sune apologized to Aiya because that was her husband that died and she now has to take care of soon to be three small children by herself. Sune decided to make small talk instead, to move away from the depressing thoughts, "How far along are you?" she asked and Aiya put a hand on her womb.

"I'm about eight months now, so not much longer until the baby comes," Aiya smiled, "I miss seeing my feet," she laughed and Sune giggled.

"Have you decided on a name yet?" Gaara asked.

"I have a few ideas but not one is for sure yet," Aiya smiled, "Oh look I almost forgot to offer you some tea! Please sit down while I go get it!" she said and hurried off to get the tea and taking the box of sweets with her.

Gaara and Sune sat at one of the tables and the children stood next to Gaara and stared at Sune. Sune smiled at them, "Hello, I'm Sune, it's so nice to meet you," she greeted them.

The little girl smiled brightly, "I'm Kiki!" she said, "You're pretty!"

"Thank you," Sune smiled.

"Are you Gaara-sama's wife?" Kiki asked looking at them both.

"No, we are not married," Sune said.

Kiki was disappointed, "Why not?" she pouted.

"We are too young to get married yet," Gaara answered and Sune blushed.

The little boy had disappeared until now as he came charging in with a fake kunai ready to attack the Kazekage, but the boy soon tripped and was caught by Gaara's sand to stop him from falling and getting hurt. "Tokito, be careful when wielding a weapon so it cannot hurt you instead," Gaara told him.

"I'm going to be the next Kazekage and avenge my dad to make him proud!" Tokito declared after the sand stood him upright.

Gaara smiled slightly momentarily, "You should never set revenge as a goal, once you can let it go and if you have a good heart with the desire to protect the ones you care about, only then do you have the chance of being Kazekage." The boy nodded hanging onto every word.

Aiya came back and set the tea on the table before taking the fake kanai away from her son, "I told you to stop attacking the Kazekage," she scolded and he mumbled an apology. Aiya turned to Gaara, "Is there any books you are looking for today Gaara? Hurm… perhaps more on the psyche for him and perhaps romance for her?" she suggested pointing at each of them as she spoke.

"In fact, I was indeed wondering if there was any more about dreams," Gaara said and Aiya nodded and turned to Sune for an answer.

"Sure that sounds fine to me, I love many books, but I'll need a moment to think about anything else," Sune said.

"Of course, and Gaara, I think there is a few more, I'll go look," Aiya said before she left and disappeared among the shelves.

Sune sipped the surprisingly delicious tea before turning to Gaara, "How did you find this place?" she asked thinking about how he usually does not leave the Kazekage building unless its work involved. As far as she knows.

"I have been here a number of times over the last couple years, it started when I was looking for something to do…" he told her remembering.

At night, because young Gaara never slept, he started to read everything he could find, but soon needed more books after he went through everything multiple times that his family owned. After some wandering through the village, he found this place, and because the owner was so nice to him, he would return every now and then. Soon he became their favorite customer and even the small children enjoyed his visits. Now after Aiya's husband died, Gaara felt responsible as the Kazekage, but cannot come by as often as he used to, but still wants to help however he can.

Sune listened to his story until Aiya returned with a book for Gaara and asked for Sune to follow her. Aiya led Sune to a section labeled romance before stopping and turning to her to speak, "Are you two… involved?" Aiya asked politely.

Sune blushed slightly, "Sort of," she said unsure.

"Oh, I understand," Aiya said before turning to a shelf and quickly located and pulled out a particular book and handed it to Sune, "I think this one will have many similarities to a situation like his concerning a relationship and obligations, it's a good story and might give you ideas on how to grow closer to a man like him," she said kindly, "If you think you might even need any that is."

Sune looked back through the rows of shelves at Gaara who was still sitting at the table but now showing the children the book Aiya just gave him. "Thank you," Sune said turning back to Aiya.

"Is there anything else you would like?" Aiya asked.

"Um, is there anything on ways to relieve stress?"

Aiya smiled, "Over here I think there is one about acupuncture and massage for stress or healing, is that something you would be interested in?" she asked.

"That would be perfect, I can even brush up on the skills I already have in that area," she said.

"Is it for Gaara?" Aiya smiled as she thought young love was adorable.

Sune blushed but nodded, "He doesn't relax as much as he should, being Kazekage and all, so I want to help him," she explained.

"I understand," Aiya told her, "Oh, you two better continue on your date before you waste the day with a pregnant woman in this old book shop!"

Sune blushed again, she did not realize Aiya knew it was a date. Sune obliged and went back to Gaara to get ready to leave.

Gaara and Sune left the book shop after he insisted on paying for her books too and they said a friendly goodbye to the pregnant shop owner, Aiya, and her children that were disappointed to see them leave. Sune assured Tokito and Kiki that Gaara would bring more sweets the next time they visit.

As they walked down the street together Sune saw the Kazekage building getting closer. "What are we going to do now?" Sune asked looking at him.

"Temari said there was a play you might like to see," he responded, "Interested?"

"You bet!" she smiled. In the theater, the two sat in a special box that was reserved for the Kazekage. Luckily it was dark so people did not seem to notice them together, they did not want to be stared at while they tried to watch 'Angel of the Night'. For a little while he placed his hand protectively on her knee over her tan capris. For some reason she had half-expected him to try the 'yawn and stretch' move like Yoshiko did when he took her to a movie once over a year ago. Of course, no, Gaara did not, he did not even think about it, perhaps because he was trying not to fall asleep. Plays are a little boring for him and he was also comfortable and warm.

After the play they went back to the Kazekage building. Sune thought the date was over until he stopped in front of the building and took her arm. She looked at him questioningly before she realized they were flying on his sand. He took her to the top of the building. "Gaara?" she asked looking at him.

"I just wanted to show you this and thought you might like us to have some privacy to talk," he explained.

"Hn? Show me what?" Sune asked before he looked past her so she turned around to see the entire village beneath her. She took in the unique layout as she stood in awe of the view. "Wow, this is amazing!" she gasped.

"You should see it at sunset," he told her.

"Can I?" she asked.

"Of course," he said making her smile before turning back to admire the view. They were silent for awhile before he spoke again, "Sune?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"What do you see in Suna's future?"

"Um," she thought, "Honestly, I haven't really thought about it…" she admitted, "How about you? What do you see in Suna's future?" she asked.

"Well, I see a good place, peaceful, with no need of more power," he said, "I want to make sure Suna becomes a place where there is much less suffering and hate caused by war and greed. So then the children can grow up happy and without the obligations to fight the petty battles of wicked old men that started the messes in the first place."

She frowned, "You know from experience do you?" she asked.

He nodded, "I may no longer have my bijuu, but I will always be a Jinchuuriki. The price I had to pay because they had the greed for more power over the other shinobi villages, so I fought their battles, until I was strong enough to take matters into my own hands. I will fight to keep another person from ever having to suffer like we did," he finished watching over the village.

"'We'?" she asked.

"I, and Uzumaki Naruto, along with many others," he told her.

"He's like you… were?"

He nodded then shook his head, "Yes, but he has luck on his side. I know he will make a difference in this world, more than I will, but I'll still do whatever I can." After he finished speaking, Sune hugged him around the ribs and he only put one arm around her shoulders and squeezed slightly before letting go. He may not be intimate enough to get a real hug out of him yet, but he seemed to be in a talking mood so Sune used the opportunity to learn as much about him and ask as many questions as she could. She learned about his past and even his favorite color and food as well as his least favorite food. Of course, to get him to tell her, she had to tell him about herself first. She likes melons and hates smelly fish. Now she also kept in mind that he does not like sweet foods and most of all dumplings.

Soon they were talking about the village again, "What kind of changes would you like to see happen to Suna?" Gaara asked.

"I think I'd like to see more green, most of the places I use to live had lots of green, so I kind of miss it," she told him.

"I agree," he said, "Good thing I am already working on returning Suna to an oasis."

"Oh yeah I remember, when Sunagakure was first founded, it was built around an oasis," she said, "I can just imagine how pretty it would be with the trees and plants," she smiled, "But what about water?"

"We think we have found an active underground spring that runs straight through the village, if we are able to manipulate it correctly without doing damage to wherever it leads, we are going to use it as another water source."

"That's great, I hope it works out," she smiled, "Sunagakure, a hidden oasis among the sand…" she trailed off watching the sunset cast it's orange, pinks, and reds over the village. Soon she found herself staring into cyan eyes inches away from her. He was looking into her light jade ones the entire time as she watched the sky. She knew what he was thinking even without using her telepathy, he was waiting for her to give some sort of signal. Blushing she leaned towards him until she was an inch away. Slowly they both leaned in about to kiss until they heard a sneeze nearby. They both stood to attention and looked around but saw nobody around.

"Did you hear that?" Sune asked making sure she was not going crazy and he nodded. "Well, we should go inside," she said tuning towards the only doorway, "I should start dinner before-" she started, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him and drew her close before kissing her shyly. At first she was surprised, but quickly returned the gesture. The mood wasn't killed after all like she thought.

They broke apart from the brief kiss and he stepped away, "I have to go," he said before disappearing in his sand. She stood there dumbfounded for a minute or two before picking up her bag of sweets and going inside.

_~'Whoa, he can be intimate after all, he's so cute,'~ _she thought touching her lips and blushing.


	19. Raven and Suki: Shadow Them!

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 19**

**Raven and Suki: Shadow Them!**

Leaving Sune, Gaara teleported to his office and immediately called for Raven and Suki. Now he was standing in front of his desk tapping his foot impatiently as we waited for the guard to find them and order them here. He stared at the door waiting for them to arrive until they both came running into the office completely out of breath.

"Sorry we're late Kazekage-sama," the two said with their hands on their knees trying to catch their breath.

"Where have you two been?" he asked impatiently.

Raven and Suki looked at each other, "We had orders from Temari and Kankuro," they told him.

"What orders?"

They looked at each other again, "Just errands," they smiled nervously.

~~~ Flashback ~~~

"You're kidding right?" Raven asked after Temari and Kankuro gave them the orders.

"No we're not," Temari said, "We just want you two to shadow them, take notes if you have to, but I want to know what's happening."

"Isn't that an invasion of privacy?" Suki asked.

"He's our little brother," Kankuro reminded, "We want to make sure he doesn't screw up too bad, and if he does, we know he's not going to tell us, so we want to help him without him knowing, does that make sense?"

Raven and Suki looked at each other then back, "Sure…" they finally said.

"Where are they?" Raven asked.

"They were still in the kitchen when we left," Temari said, "If they leave together, follow them and stay hidden."

"Right," they confirmed and disappeared.

At the beginning of Gaara and Sune's outing, they stopped somewhere for a light lunch. Raven and Suki had to 'join' them as they sat a few tables away and remained hidden behind menus with their eyes peering over the top of them. Every time Gaara or Sune would look in their direction they would bring the menus up to hide their faces completely.

At one point a waitress came up to them and asked for their order, "Shhh! We're on a secret mission right now," they told the young woman, "We'll just have the pink lemonade, thanks." The waitress brought them the lemonade and then carefully avoided them the rest of the time they were there. Raven and Suki used their ninja skills to read their lips as they spoke and took notes on the conversations they were having.

When Gaara and Sune left, Raven and Suki had to jump from building to building, and hide behind whatever they could find as they followed them. "They could at least hold hands as they walk together," Suki said, "They look like they are simply escorting each other."

"I agree," Raven said just before Sune grabbed Gaara's hand and dragged him into a candy store.

Raven and Suki continued watching them through the window. "Pleeeease, can we go in Raven?" Suki asked wanting to go into the candy shop.

"No, as much as I would like to say yes, we can't right now," Raven said, "We'll come back here after work."

"Yay," Suki smiled. After Gaara and Sune left, Raven and Suki hopped into the candy shop anyway and they each got a large bar of chocolate and wolfed them down as they left and continued shadowing the couple. The stockers stopped jumping on the buildings and just stayed a safe distance behind them as they walked.

"How come we don't meet any nice guys?" Suki complained.

"The only guys we ever meet are either too old like Baki and the other Jonin, too young like the Kazekage and his friends or the other genin and Chunin, or just plain creeps like Kankuro and the weird gang people like those in the Akatsuki."

Suki groaned, "I don't even want to think about them even if they're the last guys on the planet!"

"Maybe we need to get out more?" Raven suggested.

"How much more out can we get? We're always around the village and look at us, we're hot and we're single! It doesn't make any sense…"

"Maybe as special Jonin, we should each become sensei and hope that at least one student out of each of our groups has a cute older brother, cousin, or uncle about our age."

"Yeah," Suki agreed, "Too bad I couldn't be with Suzaku again."

"You could if you ever wanted to try going back, if he hasn't moved on already."

"I can't go back, and neither can you," Suki said, "I've moved on for the most part but it still doesn't help that we never meet any other nice guys…"

"Yeah…" Raven sighed, "Perhaps we need to go bar hopping the next time we're in Konoha?"

"Who knows…"

At the book shop, Raven and Suki found a back door and slipped in to hide behind the shelves and listen in. They almost jumped out ready to fight when the little boy, Tokito, came charging at the Kazekage with a fake kunai, they did not realize it was a fake at first. After Gaara and Sune left, they jumped out from behind the shelves and went towards the door.

Aiya, the shop owner, saw them, "Oh hello there, I didn't see you come in," she smiled, "Is there anything you're looking for?"

"No just browsing," they said before leaving.

At the theater, they were able to sneak in, but the only empty seats were across the room from the Kazekage's box. The two were using those little binoculars to spy on them instead of watching the play.

"Hey Raven," Suki whispered, "We've got a hand on knee, I'll write that down."

"Is he going to try the yawn and stretch move?" Raven whispered as she continued watching them while Suki took notes.

"I don't know, that would be funny," Suki said picking up the little binoculars again.

After the play, they followed them back to the Kazekage building. They watched as he took Sune to the balcony on the roof with his sand. They both slumped their shoulders unsure how they were going to follow them now. Climbing up the side would look every suspicious to anyone in sight of the building. They decided to go inside the building and travel most of the way up that way, and then climb out a window where they could follow a pipe. Now they sat on the pipe while clinging to the wall just under the balcony near where Gaara and Sune were talking. Suki held out the clip board while Raven took notes on what was going on.

The sun was beating on them until sunset, and as the wind picked up a little bit, Raven sneezed. They new that ruined the moment that they were inwardly rooting for, and could hear Sune ask Gaara if he heard the sneeze. Raven was mouthing sorry to Suki and up at them while she and Suki were trying to cling even closer to the wall to remain as hidden as possible. Then they heard Sune start to speak again but was cut off by something. They looked up over the bottom of the balcony just in time to see them break apart from the kiss so they quickly hid again. They heard Gaara say that he had to go and then about a minute later they heard the door close leading inside.

Raven and Suki looked at each other and high-fived. This, of course, caused them to fall off the pipe and plummet to the ground. Raven quickly used a summoning jutsu to call a Levitation to catch them and bring them safely to the ground.

"Are you two alright?" the large blue serpent-dragon like creature asked with a feminine voice.

"Yes, we're fine, thanks," Raven said.

"Then I'll be going now if that's all you need me for," it said, "Call me anytime." Then it disappeared.

Raven and Suki were starting home when a guard shinobi ran up to them and told them the Kazekage has asked to see them. They both cringed when he said that he'd been looking for them for about five minutes. With that they took off to the office as fast as they possibly could and shoving the clipboard with all their notes at Kankuro as they ran past.

~~~ End Flashback ~~~

"Errands?" the Kazekage repeating and they both nodded, "I am the Kazekage, I know you two have been following me and Sune all day," he said making them cringe, "And now I know my siblings were behind it, so thank you."

"We're sorry…"

"Don't be, I know why they had you two do it, but that is not the reason why you are here."

"It's not?"

"It is time to put the oasis restoration plan into effect," he informed.

"Yes sir!"

"And I want the first step done my the end of the week," he ordered.

"What?"

"You heard me, so get moving." With that Raven and Suki ran for their lives to start giving the orders to the other shinobi that will be involved.

Gaara went and sat at his desk and put his feet up on it and folded his hands over his stomach, _~'Step one, get most of the required plants and determine where they'll go for best survival rate,'~ _he thought. He knew it was going to take a while to finish the plan, but he was going to try to make sure it got at least half way through as soon as possible, for Sune. He knew he should be thinking of the entire village, but he just kissed the girl so it's only natural he would be thinking of her.


	20. New Comer

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 20**

**New Comer**

Yoshiko proceeded through the streets of Sunagakure, carefully keeping his face covered so none of the guards could recognize him as he suppressed his chakra signature. He knew Sune had to be somewhere in the village. He tried going to the places where he had spotted her the first time he came here to look for her. There was Sune's favored training area, where it seemed nobody had been present for at least a couple days now. Then there was where he knew Sune was living, but when he inspected the area, he found there was no longer a building there. Now in that lot, there was an empty place with a few benches occupied by some gossiping mothers watching their children play in the sand.

"Damn," Yoshiko cursed, "Now I'm back at square one…" he groaned as he turned to start his search for the violet-haired girl with jade eyes. He thought the shopping district would be as good as place as any to start until he heard a group of teen girls talking.

"I saw a girl with the Kazekage," one with short blonde hair said and the others girls did not sound happy.

_~'Kazekage? I better get as much information as I can on the guy that replaced that red-head,'~_ Yoshiko thought and went up to the girls, "Excuse me," he said turning on the charm with the careless attitude.

The girls looked like they were Genin and immediately turned into giggling schoolgirls. One with long brown hair spoke first, "Yes? Can we help you, Cutie?" she giggled.

Yoshiko wanted to roll his eyes at these poor hopeless girls, "You said something about the Kazekage," he started, "Can you tell me about him?"

"Gaara-sama is really cool," the blonde sighed and the others agreed.

Now he wanted to slap his forehead. "Is there any useful information you can tell me about him, like if I wanted to find him?" he asked, _~'Or avoid him… I'm not looking to start a war.'~_

"Well…" A girl with short dark hair pulled back in a ponytail went on to explain in a little too much detail about the Kazekage for Yoshiko's comfort, he was not here to listen to a fangirl's flatteries about some guy.

"Wait a minute, this is the same Kazekage from say, six months ago?" he asked adding some time to the last time he was here.

"Of course," the brown-haired girl said, "Did you think there was a new one or something?"

"I heard a rumor…" Yoshiko lied. "You have been very helpful ladies, thank you," he said with the careless charm that made the girls sigh and wave to him as he walked away.

Yoshiko went to the shopping district to begin his search for Sune while taking extra care to suppress his chakra. If his Gaara guy saw him again, there was a high risk that he would be recognized and captured again. He could not afford to let that happen again, he needed to bring back Sune in order to rescue Yura.

"Hey, let's go over here!" he heard a familiar voice call out. Yoshiko turned to see Sune take the Kazekage's hand and drag him into a candy shop. Curious, Yoshiko quickly followed them and stood outside a window to spy on her. When he heard the whispers of two other female voices he turned to see two girls with blonde hair, one in red, and the other in pink. They were spying through the other window. Yoshiko got an anime sweat drop when he looked at the girls. As soon as he turned back to watch Sune, he saw her kiss that guy on the cheek. He felt himself getting angry, but he did not know why. What he did know was that if Sune was indeed dating this guy, his plans were shot. Yoshiko stepped away from the window before he saw anything that would want to make him gag. He left the village with the full intention to return and put his plan B into effect.

~~~ Kazekage Building ~~~

A few days after their date, Gaara and Sune were napping on the couch along with Bo in the living room. Gaara had put time aside in his schedule to take Sune out to lunch, but as rare as it is, it was raining. Earlier Sune suggested that they go play in the rain, but Gaara told her he does not like to get his sand armor wet. He suggested that she could still go play and he would stay in the covered doorway or just stay inside, but she said that would not be any fun. So, instead they decided to achieve maximum laziness during the couple of hours they had to spend alone by putting in a movie and lounging on the couch with some popcorn and Bo sitting by, begging for the popcorn he did not really want.

Gaara shifted slightly as he woke up from his little nap. Bo mimicked him while laying on his stomach making Sune giggle. "What is it?" Gaara asked wondering why Sune was laughing.

"Oh nothing," she sighed as she shifted to accommodate his movements, "Just enjoying quiet time with my favorite boys," she smiled and pecked him on the forehead before Bo meowed, "Yes, you're my favorite boy too," she smiled petting him and making him purr. Bo then meowed at Gaara who just looked at him at first before reaching over to rub his read. Sune smiled as she watched them and continued to smile as she cuddled up next to them again.

"Sune," Gaara started, "As much as I hate to say this, it is about time for me to go back now."

Sune leaned up to look at the clock and sure enough he was right so she moved the arm that she had laid over him and he got up before taking her hands and helping her up as well. Gaara threw on his Kazekage robes instantly when Sune blinked and then left with Sune following.

"You do not have to come with me to the office," Gaara reminded.

"I know, but I want to go with you anyway," Sune smiled, "Then after, I'm going to work on this new jutsu I've been working on if it has stopped raining."

"A new jutsu?" Gaara asked.

"Yep, if I can get it to work, I'll show you, but until then it's top secret."

"Why is it a secret?"

"Because I want it to be," she stated and he gave her a look at clearly said she knew what he meant, she sighed, "So that if I can't do it, nobody will be disappointed."

"That is ridiculous," Gaara stated and she glared slightly, but her glare faded as he continued, "But understandable, if you are not even going to tell me, I am not going to make you, but if you ever need help you know where to find me," he reminded.

"I know," she smiled, "But this is something I want to do on my own," she said taking his hand as they walked, he squeezed her hand slightly and let go as he reached for the door handle of his office. "Have those refugees from Tasine town arrived yet?" Sune asked making conversation as she went to sit on the sofa and he went to his desk.

"A young woman is arriving this afternoon, she should be here any second now," he told her picking up some papers and looking through them before Temari entered the office.

"Gaara, the first refugee from Tasine town is here, she is waiting outside," Temari informed as if on cue.

"Okay there is a few jobs here she is qualified for, send her in," he said and Temari turned to leave.

"Is this person here to stay?" Sune asked him.

"In her request, she said that she has come here to find someone she is looking for and to start a new life."

"That's kind of like me!" Sune said as she stood up and the door opened. A young woman with fair skin, long violet hair that was kept back and up in a clip, violet eyes behind large square glasses, and plain clothes came in and closed the door behind her. Sune watched the girl thinking how familiar she looked.

"Kazekage-sama, I'm Cholandra Imitaro," she greeted and Sune thought the name sound familiar as well as she made her way towards the door to leave.

As Sune walked by, Cholandra stopped her, "Excuse me," she said timidly to get her attention, "But um… would happen to be… Sune?" she finally asked.

Sune looked at her, "I am," she said, "But I'm sorry, you seem so familiar to me but I can't seem to place you," she admitted.

Cholandra giggled, "I didn't think you would, my appearance has changed a lot, and the last time we saw each other was years ago."

Sune took a moment to think before she remembered, "Oh wait! You're Cholandra from the etiquette classes we had to take at the academy back home! My gosh, you have changed!" she exclaimed and hugged her old friend. Cholandra is what you could have called an ugly duckling who ended up growing to be a graceful swan.

"I heard you came to Suna to start a new life, I've planned to join you for some time and do the same," she smiled.

"Oh that's right! Gaara," Sune started turning around to look at him, he had obviously started doing his paperwork while the girls were talking, "There's possible jobs for her right?"

"There is," he said. Actually, there was more than enough work to go around. "Would you like to start the briefing now or catch up with Sune first?" he asked looking at Cholandra.

"I would like to begin the briefing as soon as possible, we can catch up after, right Sune?"

"Of course, I'll wait outside."

When Cholandra left Gaara's office, she soon located Sune. She told Sune that she had been working in a library until it was burnt down in the raids. Afterwards there were many sand ninja telling people that they were going to escort anyone who want to leave to Sunagakure. Because Cholandra did not have any family, she was first to leave while others were packing and saying their goodbyes to the people that were staying.

"And now I just got a teaching job at the academy here because of my history and many years I spent in school as a scholar," Cholandra finished.

"That's great!" Sune smiled, "Do you have somewhere to stay?" she asked.

Cholandra nodded, "I checked into a hotel, that's where my luggage is right now."

"Oh okay, if you want I bet you could stay here with me?"

"I'm alright, but thank you," Cholandra smiled as she picked up her umbrella that was leaning against the wall next to the door, "Wait you're living here?" she asked looking around.

"Yeah but it's only been like a month now," Sune explained.

"I thought you two might have had something going on, but I would have never guessed you moved in with him," Cholandra gaped.

Sune was shocked, she had never thought of it like that, "Oh no no no! We aren't like that, and that isn't the reason why I'm living here. The day before my parents left to help some people in the southern parts of the Land of Wind, the neighbors and ours house burnt down so Temari had me stay here, Gaara and I have only gone on like two dates, only one official one," Sune explained.

"So you're still living with your boyfriend?" Cholandra asked.

"Uh technically yes, and his family…" Sune admitted.

"I see…" Cholandra said thinking and making Sune feel guilty for no reason, "Does he have any brothers?" she asked suddenly making Sune lighten up and start laughing.

"Well, he does have one… I don't know if you should meet him though," Sune said still giggling. She knew Kankuro was trying to be more of a gentleman, and not so creepy, but a part of her wanted to introduce them to see him actually get denied and then maybe even slapped, even though that's cruel of her to want to see that just for a laugh and to make a point to him.

As if on cue, Kankuro opened the door and came in sopping wet, "Since when does it rain this much in January!" Kankuro groaned before looking up, "Oh hey Sune, it's still raining so I'd wait before you leave to train today," he said before noticing Cholandra, "Oh, um… hi," he finally said to her.

"Hi," she said shyly.

Sune quickly looked at both of them as they stared at each other shyly, _~'Holy crap… I did NOT see this coming…'~_ she thought as Kankuro shifted and scratched the back of his head not saying anything, not a word, not even one stupid pickup line.

"I'm Kankuro," he finally said holding out his hand.

She shook it, "I am Cholandra Imitaro, nice to meet you, Kankuro," she smiled and then looked away.

As soon as Sune saw the blush creep up on their faces she knew she had to take action, "Hey Kankuro, could you walk with Cholandra to her hotel, I have to talk to Gaara about something before I forget," she lied.

"Uh s-sure," Kankuro stuttered turning red before he opened the door for her and they left after Sune said goodbye to Cholandra. Sune turned to head to her room and then clean her bathroom if she could not train because of the rain today. She thought about giving Bo a bath as well. As she walked, Sune thought about her old friend Cholandra and how she could possibly have fallen for Kankuro so quickly. She came to the conclusion that because Cholandra is so smart that she must have seen something in him and she will never see. Sune thought about Kankuro's intentions, he did say that he is looking for the one, but Cholandra is not the kind of girl he usually goes for, he goes for the fake and bake kind that can barley spell their own name. Cholandra is fair skinned, has always been very smart, and never really cared much for her own looks as she doesn't wear makeup and hides her violet eyes behind those big thick glasses. Sune wondered how a relationship could play out between those two. If something did work out, Sune would be happy for them.

After Sune finished cleaning her bathroom a couple hours later, she heard somebody come in through the front door. She stepped out of her room into the hallway and almost walked into Gaara as he stepped in front of her door to see her. "Could you at least make some noise when you walk so I know when you're coming?"

"I know of only one shinobi still alive that does not ever tread silently," he told her, his way of saying no.

"And who is that?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, one can hear him from miles away."

"Oh," she said before asking him about this day. Soon Kankuro returned and sat at the kitchen table to talk to Gaara while Sune started dinner. "That sure took you a long time to take Cholandra to her hotel," Sune commented.

"Oh right," Kankuro laughed nervously, "We sorta started talking and then the next thing I knew it was a couple hours later and so we made plans to see each other tomorrow," he explained.

"Really?" Sune smiled amazed, "That's great! Just remember to behave yourself."

"I know, I know," Kankuro said.

"Wait," Gaara cut in, "You have a date?"

"Yep," his brother answered.

"With a real girl?"

"Yeah, how could she not be real?"

"And you did not say you were the Kazekage, me, or use any other deceptions?"

"Wha-? I only did that once as a joke!" Kankuro was starting to get irritated at his own brother's skepticism.

"Does she know about this meeting tomorrow?"

"What? Of course she does! I'm not some weird creep that is going to follow her around and call that a date!"

"Are you sure about that?" Gaara asked and Sune laughed from the counter.

Kankuro gasped, "Sune? Not you too! You have to believe me, you saw her, Cholandra is gorgeous and smart and she liked ME!"

"Actually, I do believe you," Sune smiled, "I've known Cholandra for a long time, she does have an interesting taste in guys, but I'm glad you two hit it off."

Soon Temari came in and Kankuro told her about Cholandra and how he was going to be seeing her the next day so he would not be around tomorrow. Unfortunately Temari had a similar reaction to Gaara.

"Wait, does this poor girl know about this date tomorrow?" Temari asked making Sune laugh outright and Gaara snickered under his breath at the torture of his brother.

"Why are you guys asking me that?" Kankuro demanded, "I haven't done anything to deserve this, why can't my own brother and sister accept that I may have actually found somebody that I really like and likes me as well?" he was getting truly offended.

"We're sorry," Temari smiled, "But you can't blame us for being a little suspicious."

"I better not find out she is using you to get inside information," Gaara added.

"Gaara!" Sune scolded, "Cholandra would never do something like!"

"I hope you are right," Gaara said standing up and then leaving the room.

Sune's cat, Bo, came in just after Gaara left and Kankuro looked at the cat, "Do you think Cholandra is a keeper?" he asked him. Bo meowed then scratched at his neck. "See? Bo thinks so too and agrees with me!" Kankuro said happily. Temari and Sune shook their heads before Temari started helping Sune prepare the food.


	21. Helpless

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 21**

**Helpless **

Today was sunny again in the Hidden Sand Village aside from a few dark clouds still lingering. Sune was going to work on her new jutsu, Kankuro was going out with Cholandra, Temari was supervising a project, and Gaara was in a meeting. This morning Sune got dressed in her Chunin gear and tied her hair back before she went to the training grounds. She had a lot of work to do today.

"Okay first concentrate on lighting…" Sune told herself as she gathered her lighting chakra in one hand, "Now earth while stabilizing the lighting…" she said gathering the earth element chakra in the other hand, "Then merge them together while keeping both constant and even at the same time…" she said as she put her hands together trying to keep the necessary focus by closing her eyes.

Sune stood there as nothing happened and she opened one eye to peek at her hands in front of her and saw the two chakras merging, she lost focus and the massive amount of energy between her hands started to spark and get out of control. Knowing what was about to happen, Sune quickly let go of her failed attempt just before it exploded and threw her back.

She landed about twelve feet away and felt something cut the skin on her arms as she shielded herself. Sitting up she hissed as one of the cuts on her arm stung badly and she clutched it. She looked around her to see many shards of a solid, sharp, clear material scattered on the ground. "What is this?" she asked herself as she reached for a larger shard sitting next to her. This one had blood on it, she had found the culprit of the wound on her arm. "This looks like glass…" she said before smiling. She thought of all sorts of techniques for glass, both offensive and defensive, and grinned happily.

"Sune?" A familiar voice said behind her, "Are you alright? You're bleeding," Gaara noted worried kneeling next to her.

"I'm alright, it's not deep at all," she smiled. "Look, I can make glass!" she said holding up the shard.

He inspected it silently before looking at her, "Interesting," he said calmly, "If you're all right, will you walk with me?"

She smiled, "Of course!" Then by taking her hand he helped her up before he guided her through the village still holding her hand. He must have just come from a meeting because he was still in his Kazekage robes.

"Where are we going?" she asked after they were silent and heading towards the village gates.

"We're going to take a walk around the village," he told her, "So we aren't disturbed."

"Oh okay," Sune said. "How was the meeting?" she asked.

He stopped and then started walking again, "It was fine," was all he said.

The two were walking around the outside of the village walls before she spoke again, "So what's up? You're being unusually quiet, is something wrong?"

He stopped and looked into her eyes, "Nothing at all," he smiled before kissing her.

When they were not pulling away after a while she took a step back breaking the kiss. She thought it was strange that he would take her all the way out here just to kiss her, or try to make out, or whatever this was. "Gaara?" she asked wanting an explanation of what was going on.

"I'm sorry, I know I probably shouldn't have done that," he said quietly, "But I don't want you to be hurt."

"What do you mean?" _~Is he breaking up with me?~_ she thought horrified. It would explain why he was acting this way.

He shook his head, "I need you to come with me, we have to save somebody," he explained concisely.

"Oh okay," she thought relieved, "Just point the way, I've already got my gear." she said and he nodded before taking her hand again and leading her off.

~~~ The Kazekage Building ~~~

Gaara got out of a meeting and was waiting inside his office impatiently for the two head AMBU guards he called for. They quickly arrived and he turned to them, "Your report, how is the progress?" he demanded.

"We have found many destinations for the trees including a potential park, but we have run into some problems concerning the underground spring," one reported.

"And?" the Kazekage asked.

"Raven-san, Suki-san, and water teams One and Three are working on it now," the other reported. Gaara just looked at them and the guards cringed in fear. "Do you want water team Two on the scene?" he asked.

"What do you think?" he asked sinisterly. "I want this to get done as quickly as possible, do you understand?" he asked again, he enjoyed using his old reputation to get things done quicker.

"Yes Kazekage-sama!" the guards bowed before running off as fast as they could to carry out his orders.

Gaara turned and was about to go to his desk before he heard a familiar giggle behind him in the doorway. "What is it?" he asked turning to Sune.

She smiled coyly and walked up to him with a little more sway in her hips and then put her arms around his neck before kissing him, just a peck. "Nothing at all," she answered.

He blinked at her and pulled away to sit at his desk. From his seat he looked at her and realized she was wearing black, he wondered why, she normally does wears white, and blue or green. If fact, this might be the first time he had seen her in black.

Sune walked around his desk next to him, again with a little more sway in her hips, and she sat on the desk next to him. As she crossed her legs, he looked at the exposed skin of her thigh but quickly looked back to the mission report in front of him. She must have noticed because she giggled and put her hand on his over the papers, "You're allowed to look, Gaara-kun," she said sweetly.

He pulled his hand away, "Being allowed is no excuse when it is still inappropriate, I apologize," he said ashamed.

She giggled again, "Just looking isn't inappropriate so there's no reason to apologize, it's not like it's hurting anyone."

He thought about it and after he found his eyes wandering back to her legs he stood up taking the finished mission report with him to add to the stack of other finished reports on a table by the door. She had followed him and was now standing behind him, "I thought you were going to train today," he stated turning around, "To work on that new secret jutsu you would not even tell me about."

She looked at him surprised before smiling and putting her arms around his shoulders, "I decided I'd rather be here with you," she said sweetly before kissing him again. He put his arms around her and breathed in her scent, it was roses.

Suddenly he ripped away from the kiss and pushed her against the door, pinning her wrists above her head. She looked above her towards her hands and back at him smirking. "Now this, this is a little inappropriate," she said teasingly.

"You are an imposter," he scowled.

"What are you talking about?" she said hurt.

"You smell like roses," he told her.

"Yes, so?" she asked frowning, "Don't you like it?"

He shook his head, "Sune doesn't smell like roses," he told her, _~'She always smells like vanilla and raspberries.'~_

"I AM Sune," she tried still being pinned to the door. "What's wrong with you Gaara-kun?" she looked like she was about to cry.

"Another thing, she never calls me that," he told her keeping a firm hold as he made sand wrap around her wrists and ankles to take his place. "Just give it up and show yourself," he demanded stepping away. He thought something was fishy from the moment she walked in and he was sure this was not Sune. Sune made his heart feel light, his stomach feel weird, and his face get hot as he blushed, but none of those things were happening.

"But Gaara I-" Tears began to spill over.

"Save it, I am the Kazekage, not some idiot you can play with," he said sinisterly.

The fake tears were gone and she smirked, "Very well," she said before a poof of smoke appeared around her and quickly dispersed to reveal an young woman with wavy light brown hair and clothes that did not quite cover everything in a tease fashion.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm Yura, nice to meet you," she smirked, "Now that we now each other, will you let me go?"

"No."

"Want another kiss in exchange?" she said coyly and then giggled when she saw him scowl at the idea.

He couldn't believe that he had fallen for a simple transformation jutsu, or had he? "How did you cover your chakra signature while performing that jutsu?"

"I'm just that talented…" she smirked, "Now it's your turn, tell me something about yourself."

Suddenly he realized that this is not an assassination attempt or an attempt to steal information, "Where's Sune?" he demanded. It was really a distraction.

She laughed, "You catch on pretty quick Cutie, little helpless Sune is probably long gone by now, I wonder if she's even figured out that he isn't you yet."

Gaara glared and she stopped laughing, "It is Yoshiko again, and he iss pretending to be me just like you disguised yourself as her…"

"Well aren't you smart," she stated and he ripped open the door and took off after Sune before it was too late.

The sand around Yura's hands and ankles came apart by the force in which the door was opened and then closed, and she was thrown to the floor. "Humph, that was probably enough time to stall anyway, unless Yoshiko screwed up again," she sighed.

~~~ The Desert ~~~

"Hey Gaara," Sune started, "I decided that I'd like to work in the hospital and do that training like you were telling me about," she told him after they had not said anything to each other for a while as they sped across the desert. She had no idea where they were going but trusted that he did. She would blush as she thought about how she was technically on a mission with him, just the two of them going to save somebody.

"That's good, we'll take care of that when we get back," he told her.

"Who are we saving?" she finally asked. _~'Did a Genin get in trouble, a council member get abducted, something S-rank, or a secret mission with another kage?'~_

He was quiet a while before answering, "Um… uh… a girl," he finally said.

"A girl? Who?"

"You're asking too many questions," he snapped at her impatiently.

She was confused, he never speaks to her like that, he had an answer for everything, "What?" she asked.

"You heard me, and you're still doing it."

She stopped moving and stood there in the middle of the desert, he stopped too and looked at her. "What is your problem? And where are we going and why?" she demanded. "I'm staying right here until I get some answers!" she said standing her ground.

He looked at her, "Don't you trust me?" he asked.

"Of course I do, but you're scaring me," she told him looking into his eyes searching. He rolled his eyes and sighed before bluntly ignoring her and ordered her to follow him_. ~'Fine, have it your way,'~_ she thought irritated with his attitude and used her telepathy on him.

_~'Does she know who I really am? Should I just use 'that' on her now?'~_ she heard his thoughts and his thoughts were also in a voice that did not belong to Gaara.

She stepped away from him and glared, "Imposter," she spat. She felt like she should've know, even the way he spoke was in a different manner than Gaara.

He glared back, "I see, did you use your ability on me?" he asked.

"Yes," she said frankly. She was nearly shaking with rage, he had kissed her! "But it's your attitude that gave it away, Gaara is quiet, yes, but he's also kind and would never act like that towards me," she said.

"I heard that monster even came back from the dead. Are you sure you aren't just deluding yourself into thinking he's some kind of knight in shining armor? I bet he's perfectly pleased with the fake you, who is probably throwing herself at him by now."

Sune had it. She appeared in front of him so fast he could barley register when she punched him across the face and sent him flying into the sandy ground. As she punched him forcefully, the jutsu was dispelled and he quickly sat up in the sand and rubbed the side of his face. She glared at him, recognizing that blue hair anywhere, "Yoshiko, what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm doing what I have to do, will you just cooperate?"

"Are you kidding me?" she glared and pulled out a kunai.

"I'm completely unarmed," he told her while standing up, "If you won't come with me, why don't you just turn around and go back to that dump you call a village?" he muttered and she threw the kunai at him, cutting the side opposite side of his face from where she punched him.

"I'm going back alright," she said turning around. She took a few steps before she stopped, not because she wanted to, but because she could no longer move on her own. Sune barley had time to wonder why before she heard Yoshiko laugh quietly behind her.

"You are so gullible," he told her and she glared at the desert as she still stood frozen, "You're coming with me no matter what," he stated and Sune felt her limbs moving by themselves to turn back around and walk over to him. "You don't have a choice," he said before turning and continued to dash across the desert. She followed beside him, he was right, she didn't have a choice. Tears began to leak from her eyes, she hated this feeling of helplessness.


	22. Greed for the Hidden Power

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 22**

**Greed for the Hidden Power**

As Gaara left the Kazekage building he saw Temari and quickly told her what happened and that he was going after Sune and Yoshiko again and would not require assistance. Temari didn't even have time to respond before he took off again out the door and disappeared in a whirl of sand. He searched all around the village for any sign of her until he got to the gates and asked the guards.

"The last we saw, both of you had left the village almost half an hour ago," a guard told him. Gaara glared, inwardly cursing, as he rushed past the guards. He followed the shallow footprints in the sand around the outside of the village until they turned and he continued to follow the fading footprints away from the village and even after they disappeared.

Now he was kneeling down in the sand inspecting a kunai with sand covered blood on it. At least he knows he's on the right track. He looked up towards the horizon where the desert would soon end and cursed Yoshiko for taking Sune away so easily. Even if he has to resort to his old ways, he will bring her back and make that rat of a bastard responsible pay dearly.

~~~ The Woods ~~~

Yoshiko and Sune stopped to rest for a few minutes in a wooded area. Sune still had no control over her body and every once in a while another tear would leak from her eyes. "Don't cry Sune, I said that I don't want to hurt you," he said to her from his spot against a tree, "If it makes you feel better, I'll let you talk," he said and did a couple hand signs.

Sune could now open her mouth and move her lips and tongue freely, though she could not turn her head to look at him directly. "What have you done to me?" she asked immediately.

"A forbidden jutsu," he said, "I knew you would not come willingly, and I could not sedate you without that demon sand getting in the way, so I had to come up with something else."

"So you resorted to this? Taking away a person's freewill altogether?"

"Exactly," Yoshiko said. "That is exactly what this jutsu is meant to do, take away freewill and control someone until the jutsu is released. That's why it's forbidden," he finished and they were silent for a minute before he spoke again, "You've changed," he stated.

"Yeah, so? Change can be a good thing…" she glared.

"For you it definitely has been," he said walking up to her and stroking her face, "You still feel the same," he said before taking a lock of her hair in his hand and smelling it, "You still smell the same," he said letting go and looking her up and down while thinking.

She had never felt so helpless and violated in her life. "When Gaara comes he'll-"

"He'll what? Kill me? We'll see about that," he said. "Break's over," he stated and they took off and sped over the woods by scaling the trees.

"He'll rescue me," Sune muttered.

Soon they arrived at the base of a cave and greeted by a smirking Yura, "About time you showed up, the redhead caught on to my clone very quickly, I thought he might have caught you already," she said.

"I made a promised to you, didn't I?" Yoshiko said before putting his arms around her and they started sucking face. If Sune could gag she would be doing just that right now. "Was your clone already released?" Yoshiko asked once they broke apart.

"Yeah… Not without taking a look around first," Yura answered then looked at the still motionless Sune, "Your room is so bland, like an old person lives there… Unless you're not actually using that room at all," she laughed.

Sune glared, "And what are you suggesting? I'm not like you, easy whor-" Sune was cut off too late by Yoshiko taking away her ability to speak again. Sune and Yura glared at each other intently with Yoshiko completely oblivious as to why. Sune couldn't believe that she use to look up to her. She use to admire Yura's confidence, looks, and the way she could tie any guy around her finger. She was thankful that she found out just how shallow and attention hungry Yura really was.

Yura shivered and backed off under Sune's glare. Good thing Raven gave her that glaring lesson to seem more intimidating in battle. Too soon Sune found herself walking behind Yoshiko into the cave and could hear the clicks of Yura's shoes behind her.

"You didn't try to go past the perimeter barrier again, did you?" Yoshiko asked.

"Of course not," Yura said coldly. "It was your fault for trying to pull me past it last time, remember? I was paralyzed for a week…" she spat.

"I said I was sorry, how many times do you want me to say it?" Yoshiko snapped at her, "Besides, we have Sune now, so there's nothing to worry about anymore."

"Humph," Yura huffed.

_~'What's going on here?'~_ Sune thought before trying to read their minds to get some answers, but found she was not able to, everything was as if it was in a fog. Even trying to use her telepathy made her dizzy and nauseous. She probably would have lost her balance and fallen if it were not for Yoshiko controlling her movements.

Soon they stepped into a huge dimly lit room. Sune could not even see the ceiling that massive decorated beams supported. The floor was cold stone tiles that caused their footsteps to echo. There was an ominous feeling and she wished she simply could turn around and run. She hoped Gaara would find her soon.

"Do you really think you'll be saved?" a low voice said from the darkness. "Anyone who tries to get near this place will be caught in genjutsu."

_~'What?'~_ Sune thought, _~'It was as if he could read my mind, but that would mean…'~_

~~~ The Woods ~~~

Gaara found the place where Sune and Yoshiko stopped to rest and looked all around for what direction to go next. When he looked up at the trees he found a few snapped twigs. Jumping up to closer inspect them he looked around again and found a few more all leading in the same direction. After speeding over the trees for a while he found himself at the resting place again. He mentally cursed himself for not realizing it sooner, he was caught in a genjutsu.

Being skilled with genjutsu himself he was able to release it quickly. He saw the layout of the forest from the treetops morph as it returned to normal through his eyes. Hoping he did not waist too much time running in a circle, he continued to travel across the forest.

~~~ The Cave ~~~

Sune's vision was blurry as she opened her eyes. It took her a few seconds to realize that she foolishly tried to use her telepathy again on the man in the shadows and her futile attempt caused her to pass out. She mentally cursed herself for forgetting that there must be some sort of barrier or other jutsu that not only prevented her from using her telepathy, but seemed to drastically drain her of charka.

"You came to quickly," a feminine voice said from beside her. Sune found she could move slightly and turned her head to see Yura looking down at her.

Sune immediately tried to move, but quickly found that she had been tied up and strapped down onto a table of some sort. She began to panic even as she told herself that she is a ninja and should remain calm, but her gut was telling her to be scared for her life. "What's going on here? What is the meaning of this? Why aren't you answering me? Why did you bring me here? Where am I?" she shouted as her voice echoed against the walls hidden in darkness.

Yura stood by silently as she watched Sune struggle to get free. She watched as Sune managed to move one of her hands to leg as she reached for her kunai pouch. "It's futile Sune, I already removed your weapons and ninja gear," Yura told her and Sune stopped after realizing Yura was not lying.

Sune looked around as much as she could trying to find anything that could help her escape. She soon saw a person laying on the floor a short distance away, it was Yoshiko and he was motionless, "What?" Sune muttered.

Yura laughed, "I simply knocked him out to ensure he doesn't suddenly have a change of heart and set you free, I've worked too hard for this…" she trailed off. "He's been against capturing you since the beginning, so much so in fact that he laced all his senbons with a sleeping drug and even learned that forbidden jutsu just to keep from hurting you. Boy, was he pissed when he found out that I sent some grass ninja after you, funny that they turned out to be more of a disappointment than him."

"And then you two disguised yourselves as me and Gaara to try to catch us off guard…" Sune finished.

"Correct, you always were the smart one," Yura smirked. "Fortunately, you played right into the trap… you've always been gullible Sune, unlike that redhead of yours, he was suspicious the moment he saw my clone," Yura told her.

"Maybe because he knows I'm not a whore!" Sune spat but was swiftly slapped across the face by Yura.

"Maybe I should've kept him awake to keep me from hearing your annoying voice…" Yura muttered referring to Yoshiko.

"Ladies, please…" the same low voice from before said slowly. Sune turned her head away from Yura to see the man stepping over the still motionless Yoshiko. His face was shrouded and his footsteps were deadly silent.

As the man stepped into the light, Sune was able to see his face and was shocked when she realized that she recognized him, "I-it's y-you…" she stuttered.

"Mm?" he acknowledged her. "So you remember me after all, it's been many years since I last saw you," he smiled slightly, "You sure have grown…"

"Cousin Ryu," Sune whispered. Actually she did not remember ever meeting him, she could only recall seeing the pictures in Aunt Amarante's home before she died. He was older now but he definitely resembled the pictures. He was tall and looked sickly pale with his dark hair and eyes as well as a thin build.

"How is my mother?" he whispered kindly.

Sune looked at him shocked, "Aunt Amarante is dead," she spat.

He looked genuinely saddened by this news, "What was the cause?" he finally asked.

"She was sick, we couldn't find anything that could heal her… some sort of chakra poisoning and… and a broken heart…"

"That's too bad," he said and then was quiet while he thought, "All the more reason to do this, in her memory…" his face darkened.

"D-do what?" Sune asked while Yura backed away from him.

"I'm just going to take your ability, don't worry it… might not kill you," he said wickedly and started a long succession of hand signs.

Sune saw blue glowing symbols all around her. One by one they lit up on the floors, walls, and even the ceiling to show glowing blue dots everywhere as if she were in a sea of stars. With no time to take in the beauty, Sune was frightened and looked around desperately for a way to escape. She once again tried to struggle within her tight confinements in a futile attempt to loosen the hold so she could escape.

Soon Sune could feel a sharp pain throughout her entire head and abdomen. She continued to struggle in her confinements for a sort time until she gave up. In no time it felt like a part of her soul was being ripped away and her head was being stabbed with dull senbons. A couple of tears leaked from her eyes as she squeezed them shut in pain.

After what seemed like an eternity, the pain suddenly subsided and she opened her eyes to see Ryu standing frozen with an expression of shock before blood spilled from his mouth. Sune could barely comprehend what was happening as she watched him fall to the ground and lay motionless as Yura stood behind him with a bloody kunai. Yura smirked as she held up the kunai by her face as some of the blood ran down her arm and dripped from her elbow.

The smirk soon turned into malevolent grin, "Now that his part is out of the way, I can take your power for myself…" Yura muttered slyly.

"B-but why?" Sune asked truly confused and she was having a hard time focusing on anything.

Yura laughed, "Isn't it obvious? I want your ability… you haven't even tried to bring it to it's full potential have you?"

"Such greed…" Sune managed to say barely in a whisper as the blue starlit-like room began to spin and her vision blurred.

"I have done much research about your ability, I even found this pathetic excuse of a man," Yura said dropping the kunai on Ryu, "Unfortunately his abilities were limited, and after learning about yours, he decided to kidnap me to get that other pathetic excuse of a man to do his dirty work," Yura then laughed again and Sune could see Yoshiko shift slightly on the floor.

"I thought you loved him…" Sune said in her scarcely conscious state.

"Ha!" she laughed surely, "He was fun at first, but you know how it goes…" she said as Yoshiko began to push himself up off the floor, "I simply used them both to get what I desired."

"Gaara…" Sune said silently.

"Once I have copied your ability with this jutsu," Yura started, "I will use it to control everyone. I will communicate with everyone and make them think what I want them to… Influence is such a powerful thing…" she finished as she began a succession of hand signs.

This time it felt different than the jutsu Ryu used only minutes ago, not as bad, but it still felt like energy was being sucked out of her. Sune heard something tap and echo and saw Yoshiko trying to stand up but he crouched down again in pain. Too soon everything went black in Sune's eyes even as she managed to hold on to consciences.

The last she could see was Yoshiko sliding away from them across the floor into the darkness and Yura standing over her, and then she heard her speak, "With this power to influence whoever I choose… I will become a Goddess to be worshiped…" Yura declared.


	23. Battle Royal and the Unbearable Power!

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 23**

**Battle Royal and the Unbearable Power!**

Gaara almost flew right past the cave Sune was taken just before he felt the familiar aura of a barrier being dispelled. He halted and quickly located the entrance of the cave. Approaching it stealthily, he sensed the presences of two other ninja nearby. As he took another step be purposely snapped a loose twig on the ground. Just like he predicted, two guard ninja instantly located him and prepared for attack upon seeing him.

"Imbeciles…" Gaara sighed as the two rushed at him with kunai. Sand quickly sprang from his gourd and pinned each one where they stood. Just like all of Gaara's past victims and prisoners, the two began to say the usual phrases.

"What? How? Who are you?" and so on.

Gaara rolled his eyes bored, all guards he's ever had to deal with have acted the same, "First of all I am the Kazekage of the Sand, tell me, is Sune here?" he demanded. The guards' eyes widened from this information and they looked at him speechless so Gaara tried again, "Is Sune here?" he asked sinisterly with his patients running thin.

"We don't know any 'Sunes'!" one said and Gaara tightened his sand around them both.

He growled irritated, "Sune is a young woman, about this height, with long dark purple hair, probably came through here by force," he glared, "Was she taken into that cave where a barrier was just dispelled?" The guards looked at each other then back at Gaara, their eyes told him everything he needed to know. "…I will let you live as long as you never cross my path again, understand?"

They nodded and he let them go slowly while fully prepared to crush their legs instantly if needed if they decided to attack anyway. Luckily they ran for their lives and Gaara snuck into the cave silently.

Upon entering he walked silently through the pitch black darkness of the corridor. Soon he could see the blue symbols along the walls when he reached the end and was about to step into the large room. He was able to make out four people in the center. A tall male figure just fell to the ground. Now he could see two on the ground and a female figure standing in front of the table where the man was. He couldn't make out what was on the table, but he had a pretty good idea as blue energy flowed around them.

Gaara could hear the girl and Sune's voices, "Now that his part is out of the way, I can take your power for myself…" a female voice muttered slyly.

"B-but why?" he heard Sune ask and he wanted to run to her but stopped himself in order to analyze the situation.

The female laughed, "Isn't it obvious? I want your ability. You haven't even tried to bring it to it's full potential have you?"

"Such greed…" Sune barely whispered.

"I have done much research about your ability, I even found this pathetic excuse of a man," the female dropped a kunai or other blade on the man that just fell. "Unfortunately his abilities were limited, and after learning about yours, he decided to kidnap me to get that other pathetic excuse of a man to do his dirty work," she then laughed again and Gaara could see one body shift slightly on the floor.

"I thought you loved him…" Sune said.

"Ha!" she laughed surely. "He was fun at first, but you know how it goes…" she said as the body began to push them self up off the floor. "I simply used them both to get what I desired." They were quiet for a few moments and Gaara took in every bit of information he could. "Once I have your ability," the female started, "I will use it to control everyone. I will communicate with everyone and make them think what I want them to… Influence is such a powerful thing…" she finished as she began a succession of hand signs.

Gaara sent sand swiftly and silently along the floor to pull away the person that was struggling to stand in order to get them out of the potential battle ground. He lifted the person lightly onto some sand and quickly brought them to him. Once next to him, he had the sand place the person on their feet and he looked at them.

Gaara and Yoshiko stared at each other in shock for a few moments before the looks turned into glares which turned into burning death glares. "I should kill you," they both whispered deathly quiet to each other.

Two screams quickly pierced the air and they both turned recognizing the voices. Yoshiko made move to run but fell on his face, thus feeling really stupid because of who he just did that in front of after trying to make a death threat.

Gaara rolled his eyes while reaching down and grabbing Yoshiko's arm and pulling him back up, "Wait outside," he ordered. Yoshiko glared but eventually nodded deciding that it was really the best thing he could do right now in his condition.

"What is this?" Yura soon screamed again as she clutched her head.

Sune's vision came back and her mind cleared with Yura distracted. With her body aching, nearly completely drained of energy, and her head still pounding, Sune was able to wiggle her wrist and move two fingers in a way that made two metal bracelets around that wrist to snap straight and flat into sharp senbons that cut through the strap holding down that hand. With that hand free Sune used the secret senbons to begin cutting away at the other thick straps.

"Sune are you alright?" Gaara asked appearing next to her and using a kunai to cut away the other straps.

She looked at him surprised, "Gaara?" she asked in disbelief, "Is it really you? You came for me?"

"Yes, it is me," he said looking into her jade eyes, this was the real Sune without a doubt. She believed him and was so overjoyed that she jumped on him and wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him. He embraced her and caught a whiff of her hair, vanilla and raspberries, just like it should be.

Yura then shouted at Sune, "Now that I've absorbed more than enough of your power, I'm through with you!" she panted and prepared to attack, obviously still feeling the effects of the new power.

Sune tried to stand but her legs were shaking from the lack of chakra, Gaara helped her stand, "Should I subdue her?" Gaara asked Sune.

"No, this is my fight," Sune told him and he gave her a worried look, "Please Gaara, I need to do this," she begged.

"Alright," he sighed, "I better not have to save you," he tried to smile reassuringly.

"Thank you, but you can fight my cousin," Sune said seeing Ryu stand and wipe the blood from his mouth.

"Why you little wench…" he seethed at Yura.

Still sweating, Yura smirked, "Ugh, your healing ability is such a pain, next I'm taking that as well."

"Yura!" Sune shouted, "Forgetting something?" she smirked and took Gaara's kunai since she had been disarmed and could not locate any of her weapons yet. Yura used a jutsu and threw dozens of flaming disks at Sune. Sand flew up in front of her protecting her from harm.

Soon Ryu attacked Gaara to get him away from Sune, "If I'm lucky, those two will destroy each other and I'll still get what I want as well as the reputation of defeating a kage," Ryu told Gaara while dodging sand and throwing kunai.

"That will not happen," Gaara said.

"You can't know that," Ryu said slowly.

"Perhaps, but I will tell you what I do know," Gaara started, "Sune is strong and will not be defeated by that girl and there is two reasons you will not defeat me just based on fate."

"Fate? Explain."

"I have only ever been defeated twice in my entire life," Gaara started again, "Both were by loudmouth blondes… you have neither of those characteristics."

"What?" Ryu said, he was being told that he would lose because of the color or his hair and how he talks? He refused to be toyed with any longer and as Yura led Sune outside during their fight Ryu decided to pull out one of his more concentrated jutsu. Gaara watched Ryu closely preparing for anything as Ryu made a series of hand signs. "Water Style: Whirlpool Jutsu!"

The entire room suddenly lit up revealing the immense size of the grand room as it filled with water swirling all around. Gaara knew what was coming and had no way to stop it, "Shi-" he was then hit with a cyclone of water. He was completely soaked in heavy wet sand that was now completely useless. Gaara sat up in the pile of wet sand that was once his gourd and popped his almost dislocated shoulder back into place. He glared at Ryu who was grinning evilly.

"I knew that would subdue that pesky sand of yours! Let's see how you survive in combat now!" Ryu declared and charged at him. Gaara's reaction time was slowed because of the weight of his wet sand armor slowing him down but he was still getting away with only a few scratches in the crumbling armor.

Yura had led Sune outside into the light so she could see better and fight at her fullest while still feeling the pounding in her head and hearing voices that were not her own and could not even understand. Even through the tremors in the ground from Ryu's attack inside the mountain the two fought hand to hand for several minutes. Sune showed Yura just how much of a ninja she had become through her quick and silent kicks, flips, and slashes with the kunai. The only problem was that Yura had also improved. Soon they both jumped to opposite sides of the clearing and stared at each other while panting. Sune was becoming more and more fatigued, but she had a little chakra built up now, and she prayed that it would be enough.

Bravely Sune quickly joined her lighting and earth chakras, and just like she predicted, it exploded into a thousand shards of glass. This time she was able to focus most of it towards her target with only a few shards flying back and scratching her arms and face. Being left with nowhere to run, Yura screamed in pain and fell to her knees with a dozen shards of glass puncturing her skin.

"Why you… how did you make glass?" Yura hissed clutching at the deepest wounds with glass sticking out of them.

"A lot of hard work and training, maybe you should try it sometime instead of stealing powers you really know nothing about," Sune said using her thumb to wipe away some blood from a cut on her cheek.

"What? And how dare you call me that?" Yura scowled.

"I never called you anything," Sune said confused.

"How could you deny saying such hateful things?"

Now Sune understood what was happening, "I didn't say it, but I thought it," she explained and Yura's eyes widened. With almost a complete lack of energy, Sune then focused on every memory she had of Yura knowing that with Yura's complete lack of experience and training to control the telepathy, it will be a jumbled mess of voices and noises in Yura's mind.

Yura clutched her head, "Stop!" she cried still on her knees and bleeding from the glass imbedded in her skin.

Then Sune was standing in front of Yura in an empty white room. Whose mind they were in and how they got there she did not know. "What's going on?" Sune demanded.

Yura laugh malevolently and stood to her feet now that she was without any wounds in this dimension, "That's better… quiet…" she muttered before looking up with a truly insane look in her eyes. "Now I will destroy you from the inside out!"

Sune didn't have time to say anything as she was forced to dodge Yura's attacks. Sune tried to counterattack but every move she made was easily dodged. She barely missed getting kicked in the face as she felt the wind rush past her ear. The next attack she was not so lucky with as Yura spun around with her kick for extra force and Sune was hit directly in the side of the face, thus getting thrown back.

Sune struggled to her feet as her vision spun. Fighting physically inside her own mind was causing damage to her psyche and conscience. When Yura laughed again Sune looked up at her realizing what was happening. Yura was using the ability she just copied from Sune to predict her movements. Sune had enough of this, she was going to fight fire with fire.

"Yura, you're not welcome here," Sune told her before they begun their mental battle.

Neither of them were sure how long they kept up like this and the pressure on their minds was becoming too much to handle. If this went on much longer, they might never be able to leave this realm. As Yura's greed for power drove her to fight, Sune thought about everything she cared about. The things that she couldn't bare to leave behind if she died now. Things like her family, job, boyfriend, friends, even her cat. Not to mention she had her entire life ahead of her and so many things to experience like rising to the heights of her career before settling down and getting married and having children.

Sune was losing and she knew it. Her mind and body were tired and she was just about at her limit. She had no choice but release her mind and stop fighting before there was nothing left to do or nothing left of her. Yura wasted no time in overpowering Sune's mind making her scream and fall to the ground.

Now they were back in the real world and Sune felt herself hit soft dirt and grass below her. She panted and tried to get up but couldn't and fell back to the grass listening to Yura laugh while being told everything weak about herself. Sune just ignored Yura as a gentle breeze glided against she aching skin, she could almost fall asleep here, being so tired. Yura continued her speech about her own superiority over Sune and how she was going to be a Goddess while oblivious to the fact Sune was no longer listening.

"…Sune…" a soft female voice said to Sune making her open her eyes, "It's not over yet my dear," the voice told her.

Sune knew whose voice it belonged to, she would know it anywhere, "Aunt Amarante?" Sune whispered.

"Yes, it's me, everything's going to be alright but you need to get up."

"Oh Aunt Amarante, Yura's nothing like she use to be and Ryu's gone crazy…"

"I know, I know… that's my fault…" she said sadly, "I wasn't a very good mother to him."

"That's not true…" Sune tried.

"But it is Sune, one thing I will tell you about being a mother and having our gift is to use it wisely and trust your children, they're not the ones you should be listening in on if you love them, no matter how much you worry."

"Are you saying you would…"

"Yes, all the time. It was great when he was born and I could understand what he needed, but I guess after my husband betrayed me, I became distrusting and didn't even let that poor boy have his thoughts to himself. It was because of me that he ran away and became obsessed with gaining rare abilities."

"This is what you meant when you told me that your heart was broken too many times…"

"Yes, I've taught you everything I know and now is the time you need to use 'that', please Sune you need to get up," she pleaded.

"You actually want me to use 'it'?" Sune asked with a new found strength and lifting herself up off the ground. Aunt Amarante did not answer but Sune knew what she had to do.

"What are you muttering about?" Yura demanded then watched Sune stand to her feet, "What? How? I thought I crushed your spirit!"

"It'll take more than that to get rid of me, Yura!" Sune shouted and started a series of hand signs. Yura glared and charged at Sune determined to not let her finish whatever she was about to do. The two began to fight hand to hand once again and every chance Sune got, she would make another hand sign or two.

~~~ The Cave ~~~

Inside the cave, Gaara and Ryu were still fighting. They were in total darkness now and each of them would be scaling the walls trying to land a hit before the other escaped again. Gaara's patients was wearing thin as is worry for Sune grew. He knew he would have to end this quickly but he didn't want to risk Sune getting hurt if she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He cursed the fact that he no longer had his sand gourd because it had been turned to mud and then the stone of this cave was taking forever to turn into sand even with most of this sand armor from his lower body discarded to assist.

"This ability to control sand…" Ryu's voice echoed, "I want it."

"Sorry, not without great sacrifices on the user's behalf," Gaara explained before Ryu laughed.

"Yes, of course… the demon's curse perhaps?" Ryu appeared in front of Gaara and attacked but Gaara dodged and Ryu disappeared again.

Gaara cursed himself again, it was a ploy to get him to give away his position and he foolishly fell for it without thinking that he could use it to get Ryu to come to him and trap him instead.

"I agree, it was foolish of you, but understandable when you have a woman on the mind," Ryu's voice echoed again.

At first Gaara was surprised that Ryu knew what he was thinking but then he remembered Sune telling him that this guy is her cousin, so it's possible that they share the telepath ability. He came to the conclusion that Ryu's power must not be as efficient as Sune's, or Ryu would have been able to find out where he is in this dark room long ago. Not to mention that Ryu wouldn't have been trying to use Sune's power in the first place.

Suddenly Gaara sensed his sand calling to him, it was the sand he put on Sune's hair clip. If Sune was in trouble then he knew he would have to end this now. Gaara jumped in front of the only exit with sunlight coming through it so all that Ryu would be able to see is his silhouette, then he quickly put his hands together making a hand sign. If he couldn't find Ryu, he was going to destroy the entire cave along with everything in it, "Sand Burial," Gaara said and the mountain that contained the cave began to tremble and the ceiling and walls began to collapse in.

~~~ Outside ~~~

Both Sune and Yura battled at their fullest and Yura was showing signs of fatigue as her attacks were becoming more desperate and clumsy. Sune continued to make hand signs every chance she got which caused her to mainly defend and counter with her legs and feet. The two were also using their telepathy to predict each other's movements so neither of them were landing any solid hits.

Finally each of them landed a hit as they moved in unison, each of them throwing a powerful spinning kick and landing a solid blow to the other's ankles as they met. They could hear and feel the cracking and popping of bones or cartilage. Despite the adrenaline coursing through their bodies, they both cringed in pain and backed away but the moment they put their weight down on their wounded ankles, they fell to the ground and clutched at the pain.

Sune looked at her ankle to see it swelling and her foot pointed inward. She hissed trying to move it again. Knowing that Yura wasn't going to be standing up either, Sune continued making hand signs, determined to finish before something else got in her way.

Yura attempted to pop her ankle back into its proper position but was sure she was doing it wrong and breaking it even more. Still, determined to not let Sune do whatever she was about to do, Yura pulled out her last kunai and prepared to throw it the moment Sune pauses and makes the final hand sign. It came quickly and as Sune put her hands together in the final seal and took a breath preparing to release the molded chakra, she threw it.

Sune watched the kunai come straight for her as time seemed to slow down. Her eyes went wide as she tried to determine whether to give up her jutsu to dodge or take the hit and hope it misses anything vital. The closer it got the more apparent in came that the kunai was right on target for her head but by the time Sune's instincts told her to move, it was too late and she squeezed her eyes shut preparing for the worst as she mentally apologized to Gaara for failing.

Sune froze and when nothing happened after only a few moments, which felt like an eternity, she opened her eyes to see nothing but a curtain of sand. Sune knew what it was, it was the second time it had saved her, it was Gaara's sand from her hair clip. The sand and the kunai dropped to the ground and Sune prepared for the final attack while looking back to the shocked face of Yura.

"Yura, this is it, this is the end for you," Sune said taking a breath and focusing on the molded chakra within her, "Kage Kontan Kujo no Jutsu!" (Shadow Soul Destruction Technique)

The ground began to tremble underneath them as Yura screamed and she bled from her eyes. Being mixed with tears the blood quickly streamed down her cheeks and dripped from her chin forming a puddle in front of her as she stared blankly with her eyes rolled back. The attack Sune just used was meant to literally crush parts of a person's brain and scramble their psyche.

The ground's tremors felt like a full earthquake now as Sune panted from exhaustion and tried to keep balance even in her sitting position while Yura's now limp body fell to the ground and landed in her own blood. Soon there was one last shockwave and Gaara appeared next her, nearly giving her a heart attack.

"Sune are you alright?" he asked her worried, eyeing each one of her cuts and bruises until he saw the swollen ankle, "Is it bad? Can you stand?"

She shook her head, "I think it's broken," she told him still breathing heavily.

He nodded and helped her stand on her good side and supported her other side, "We should get you looked after as soon as possible," he said and she nodded before they turned to leave but before they could a voice stopped them.


	24. Goodbye and Surprise

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 24**

**Goodbye and Surprise**

Gaara helped Sune stand while supporting her to keep her from putting any weight on her wounded ankle, "We should get you looked after as soon as possible," he said and she nodded before they turned to leave but before they could take another step away, a familiar voice stopped them.

"Sune!" They shouted and Gaara and Sune turned to see Yura standing on her feet and staggering towards them, "Your power…" she muttered dreamingly with eyes still blank and bleeding. All her clothes were blood stained and more blood was smeared on her bare skin.

Sune stared in shock at the scene before her, "Impossible!" she cried and looked to Gaara, "I crushed parts of her brain and scrambled her psyche, she shouldn't be moving let alone still be alive at all!"

Gaara looked at her shocked, "You did that?" he asked in disbelief, he had no idea Sune was capable of such a thing let alone have it in her to try to kill anyone. She nodded and he stared at her in amazement.

Sune tried to pull away from Gaara so she could continue her battle with what was left of Yura. Though the moment she pushed herself away from his arms she began to fall from exhaustion, but Gaara grabbed her again and supported her the second she started heading towards the ground. Her last jutsu took more out of her than she thought, not that she had much energy to spare from the beginning of this fight.

Gaara did not have any sand but was sure that this Yura wasn't capable of much anymore, so he made sure he had a firm hold on Sune and then jumped to a nearby tree. The two were now on a sturdy branch overlooking the clearing where Sune and Yura had fought. There were shards of glass still scattered about. To their surprise, Yura started making hand signs.

Sune gasped, "Gaara, she's-"

"I know, but the hand signs do not make any sense," he told her, "These are either completely random in her mental state or…"

"Or what?" Sune asked worried.

"Or something extremely powerful," he finished and she gasped, "We need to escape and get you to a medic," he added.

Sune shook her head making him raise a nonexistent eyebrow questioningly, "We can't just leave her like this, what if she wonders off somewhere and hurts somebody?" she took a breath, "I need to finish her off…"

"How can you expect to do that when you can barely move?"

She frowned, "But Gaara, I-"

"I'll do it," Another voice said from behind them, it was Yoshiko standing on another branch.

"Yoshiko?" Sune looked at him in shock, "How can you do something like that?" she questioned knowing that he wouldn't have done everything he did for Yura if he didn't love her. And now he was saying he'd finish her off?

Yoshiko said nothing as he remained completely emotionless before he finally sighed, "I guess because it's my duty, if someone is going to take her life, it should be me," he said just before jumping from the branch and appearing behind Yura. In one fluid motion he used a kunai to pierce through her chest from behind. The kunai plunged straight through her heart, stopping it. As her body went limp, Yoshiko took hold of her and sunk to the ground still holding her in his arms, taking a look at her now peaceful face before lifting his hand up to stroke her face and hair. "What happened to make you like this?" he asked her, "What happened to the happy, confident girl I used to know?"

The last thing Sune saw of the two on the ground before Gaara moved her away was Yoshiko holding Yura closer to bury his face in her hair as he wept silently. Sune didn't want to leave him alone like this while at the same time thinking that he should just join Yura in the afterlife. She decided that Gaara's idea was probably the best since she really did need medical help but also just get away from this place.

Now that the adrenaline was no longer coursing through her and everything had calmed down, Sune began to feel pain everywhere throughout her entire body. Gaara noticed the change in Sune behavior as she gripped onto him tighter and she cringed.

"Gaara…" she whimpered as the pain only grew and her vision blurred.

"Sune, you are going to be alright, just stay with me until we get back," Gaara tried but it was futile as she passed out from exhaustion and pain.

~~~ Later ~~~

When Sune came to, it was already nighttime and she could hear the sounds of moving water like there was a small waterfall nearby. She opened her eyes slowly as even they were sore and found that the rest of her was even worse as she tried to sit up. She groaned and looked around from her reclined position against a tree to find that she was alone but there was a warm fire near her and Gaara's coat was wrapped around her.

Sune looked down to inspect her ankle and found that it had been wrapped up and back in its correct position, it still hurt when she tried to move it, but the swelling had gone down a little bit. After inspecting the rest of herself, she found that every cut and scrape had been cleaned already so they wouldn't get infected. She was sure it was Gaara who did it as she wondered where he was before wondering where she was.

"Gaara?" she called painfully, it was quiet so she called for him again.

"I am here," he responded stepping out of the shadows from some trees with more firewood, "How are you feeling?" he asked after setting the firewood down and sitting next to her to adjust the coat so it was more secure on her.

"A little better, I'm really sore though, thank you for taking care of me," she smiled, the only thing that didn't seem to hurt.

"You still need to see a medic," he told her and she nodded carefully. "I used the last of my sand armor to send a message back to Suna, telling them that we would be back in the morning and to have a medical team ready."

"Okay," she said smiling at him in a way that was making him uncomfortable.

"What is it?" he finally asked.

"You're just too sweet," she smiled and he blinked unsure how to respond. "Do you feel naked?" she asked suddenly and his eyes went wide with surprised. "I mean, first I have your coat, you don't have your sand gourd or anything on to carry it with, and then you also don't have any sand armor which you always have on," she explained.

"Not always," he said.

"Oh really, when do you not?" she asked, "And you can't say when you bathe," she added and he didn't say anything. "Well, do you?"

"I guess a little, why is this even important?"

"I'm just wondering, I feel bare when I don't have my purse in a store or my kunai pouch during training, I wanted to know if you felt weird without your sand," she explained.

"You had an articulate way of asking…" he said blushing slightly and decided to change the subject, to anything, "There is a river with a waterfall over there," he said indicating the area ahead of them.

"I thought there might be," she said and tried to move but winced and sat back, "I want to see it but I can't right now," she pouted.

"I will take you to see it, but only to the bridge," he said picking her up bridle style and started walking.

"There's a bridge too?" she asked and he nodded.

Too soon after being in his arms, he set her down so she was sitting on the edge of a bridge with her feet dangling over the side just above the water. He sat down next to her and she was able to lean against him so that she could still sit reclined. The two sat silently as she took in the view under the night sky. The scene was almost tropical with the plants and trees all around the water and the way the moonlight glittered off the splashing at the base of the waterfall. She was silent because she was so awestruck by the beauty of it all. A part of her wished she could go in the water for a nice swim.

Suddenly she felt Gaara move her loose bangs from the side of her face to behind her ear, now that she lost the sand clip her hair had been covering one side of her face. Then she felt something against her temple and when she realized it was Gaara kissing her, she blushed deeply even as she leaned into him. He moved his arms so they were around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "I was afraid," he confessed.

She looked at him confused, "Of what?" she asked.

"Of losing you, I really thought I might have been too late when I was looking for you," he confessed.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere for a while," she told him, "You're suck with me," she smiled.

"Good," he said making her blush, "It nearly gave me a heart attack."

She giggled slightly, "Just because you worry too much, I swear you're nothing but a big teddy bear with a title sometimes."

"Better than what people use to swear about me," he said frowning.

"Oh, forget what they said, they didn't know anything," she tried.

"But they were right."

Now she frowned, "I guess that means that now I'm right, you're none of those bad things people used to say, they know better than to say anything like that anymore. Or am I wrong, are you still those things?"

"No," he said looking at her.

"And everybody knows it," she confirmed nodding.

"I do not know…" he trailed off, but she had it, so she pulled away from him and pushed him into the water as punishment for not seeing what she and everybody else could see.

He fell right in with a splash and she couldn't help but laugh even though it hurt a little. He came up with only his glaring eyes visible above the surface of the water. She looked at him and laughed even more making the coat fall off her shoulders and onto the bridge behind her.

"What did you do that for?" he demanded even as he relished in the sound of her laughter.

"Because you're stupid," she said wiping away a tear from laughing at the whole situation. The Kazekage of the Sand was just pushed into the water by a defenseless girl and now he looked plain silly to her being completely wet.

"What?" Nobody has ever said something like that to him. She laughed more as he pouted, "If I am so stupid then why am I not the only one who ended up wet?" he asked.

"Huh? What do you-" she started but bank sand came up behind her and pushed into the water. She got her wish for that swim she was wanting.

She quickly surfaced, "Gaara!" she yelled with water dripping in face from her hair. After pushing her wet hair out of her face she looked at Gaara, or more like where he was, so she looked around and couldn't find him anywhere. "Gaara?" she asked still looking for him but got no response. She even used her telepathy but it didn't help her find him because she was sensing that he was near her but when she looked at the water she couldn't even see a shadow. Knowing that he would show himself eventually, she huffed and laid on her back to float peacefully on the surface of the calming water. She looked up at the stars and the few clouds that floated along. The cool water felt good against her sore body, it was like the pain was being washed away as she floated there and remained completely still.

Sune closed her eyes and sighed, "Gaara, I know you're under me now," she said just before she felt herself being lifted out of the water, "Gaara! What are you doing?" she asked just before she was set back on the bridge.

"I do not want you catching a cold," he said still in the water by her feet.

"Then don't push me in, in the first place!" she pouted, she was just fine being the water anyway.

"You started it…" he muttered.

She almost gasped at hearing those words come from him but giggled instead, "Fine," she said before using her good leg to kick water at him. She laughed as she continued kicking water at him until he submerged, "Hey, that's not fair!" she called at him and he came back up and splashed her. She tried to block even as she laughed.

"Now it is almost fair," he said.

"Oh? And what else could make this 'fair'?" she asked.

"I could push you back in here."

"Can't push if I jump!" she said jumping back into the water causing him to get splashed again. Their little water fight didn't last long as he submerged again before coming up underneath her while picking her up out of the water and taking her back to her spot against the tree by the fire to dry off. Sune took off her vest and tossed it next to the fire to dry before ringing out her hair while Gaara went back to the bridge to get his coat.

Before Gaara grabbed his coat he took off his shirt and pants to ring them out as much as he could before putting them back on. As he returned he set the coat next to Sune and sat by the fire next to her to also dry off as much as he could. As Sune sat she inspected her wounded ankle to find that the swelling had gone down even more and that she could even move it a little without too much pain, so she grabbed her shoes and put them back on her cold feet. She found that her shoes helped brace her ankle a little more than just the rap alone. She smiled at Gaara, who was looking at her worried, to reassure him that she would be fine.

Gaara added more wood to the fire and after sitting silently while drying off next to the fire for awhile, Sune decided to break the silence, "About what time is it?" she asked curious.

"Past midnight," he said quietly and looked away. Curious to his reaction Sune read his mind to find out what he was thinking, _~'It's January ninetieth already, I will go see it as soon as I can.'~_

Now she was even more curious, "What's so important about the ninetieth?" she asked.

He looked at her surprised before nodding understanding, "It is the day my mother died," he said, "I visit her grave on this day."

Sune thought for a moment, "I thought your mother died just after giving birth?" she questioned and he nodded confirming her theory. "But that would mean it's your birthday," she said and he stayed silent while looking into the flames in front of him. "I can't believe that nobody, especially you, didn't tell me because I would've got you something," she pouted upset.

"Ridiculous," he said. "You do not have to get me anything… it is not a day to be celebrated," he barely whispered the last part but she still heard him and frowned.

They were quiet again and Sune desperately wanted to lighten the mood, "So this means you're sixteen now right?" she asked smiling at him and he nodded slowly looking back at her. "So how about I give you sixteen, um…" she thought about what she could give sixteen of before she got an idea, "Kisses?" she offered blushing slightly and he said nothing as he thought about it. Since he didn't say no, she leaned closer and kissed him once lightly to see what he would do. "One…" she counted pulling away and looking at him, he was blushing, the blush was much more noticeable without his sand armor covering his already fair skin. She decided it was safe and kissed him again and this time he kissed her back, "Two…" she counted smiling and blushing more. If this couldn't make him feel better then she was out of ideas. After about nine Sune lost count as she wasn't sure when one kiss ended and the next began anymore since they were no longer short individual kisses like she would expect from him. When they broke apart she spoke, "I lost count, was that sixteen?" she asked but his only answer was another kiss. They broke apart again with their foreheads still touching, "Good idea, one more, just in case," she blushed and smiled at the fact her idea worked.

"Thank you," he muttered shyly unsure what to say, while thinking something along the lines of 'best birthday ever'. Soon he pulled her into his arms and draped his coat over her to keep her warm. They were only a little wet still and the fire was still going strong nearby. She quickly fell asleep and stayed there for the rest of the night while he watched over her until he fell asleep as well for a couple hours.

~~~ The Desert ~~~

When Sune woke up again she opened her eyes to find that it was already morning and that she was being carried bridle style by Gaara again. She looked around a bit and noticed that they were already walking past the village gates and entering the village. She had her vest that she had set by the fire to dry back on and Gaara had his coat and vest back on as well.

Still confused as to how they got back so quickly, Sune looked around a little more to see a couple medical ninja nearby, as well as Temari, Kankuro, Raven, Suki, and even Cholandra following. "You are awake," Gaara stated and everybody looked at her, making her feel uncomfortable.

She nodded, "How did we-?"

"I did not want to wake you, I started our journey back early this morning," he answered her unfinished question.

Before she could say anything else, everyone started asking her questions about how she was feeling, what happened, and if she was okay. Feeling overwhelmed by all the questions she didn't know what to do until Gaara stepped in, "Everything is going to be alright, you can ask her about it later since you all cannot come with her to the hospital, you have work to do," he said and continued to their destination.

Sune looked back to everyone standing there, besides the medical ninja still following, to see them watching her with worried expressions. As they walked past Raven and Suki, she could see them holding a camera and what could only be photos, _~'Please let those not be of me…'~_ she begged inwardly, the last thing the world needed was pictures of her wounded and dirty, but they would be of her in Gaara's arms, she was curious now.


	25. Gaara's Birthday

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 25**

**Gaara's Birthday**

Gaara took Sune straight to the hospital where they were ready for her. He carried her all the way to a room and set her down on the bed before leaving and telling her that he would be back soon. The medics that had been following got straight to work, starting with some medicine for the pain, telling her that it would also make her sleep for about thirty minutes while they healed her. The medics were right, as it made her very drowsy as she removed most of her dirty clothing and put on a gown they gave her. Luckily both the medics were female as they had to help her. Within ten minutes she was asleep and the medics got to work on healing her with chakra.

She woke up to see one of the medics standing next to her and taking her temperature, "You sure had a rough day yesterday, but you're all fixed up now, just try to go easy on that ankle for a while," she smiled and Sune blinked having to remember what she was talking about.

"Yes, thank you," Sune said.

"There's someone who has being anxious to see you," she smiled again, "I'll go tell him you're awake," she finished before leaving the room. Sune wondered who it could be before the medic returned and entered with Gaara, "Here she is Kazekage-sama, would you like the papers for her release?" she asked.

"Yes," he said and she bowed before leaving again. Sune noticed that he changed into a clean dark long-sleeved shirt and dark pants.

Gaara sat in a chair next to Sune, "What's up?" she asked sitting up.

"I am taking you off active duty for a while," he said and she looked at him shocked.

"W-why?" she asked and he simply looked at her, she understood why so she backed off.

"Temari put together some clothes for you," he said handing her a bag with the items.

She took it and looked through it, making sure it had what she needed, which was clean underwear, shirt, and pants. It also had a pair of sandals, a hairbrush, and some makeup. "Good, thank you for bringing it," she smiled.

"I picked this up for you," he said handing her a small package. She took it and looked at it, it was a package of hairclips. It had four, two were pink and the other two were green, and they all have a diamond shape in the middle and were shiny.

"Thank you," she smiled brightly, she almost forgot that the sand clip was gone, "Too bad these weren't made of sand to save me in a pinch," she laughed and opened the package and pulled out the green ones as well as her hairbrush.

"I will put together more sand for you later, this time enough to block more than once or twice if needed," he told her as she quickly brushed her hair.

She nodded, "Sure," she said before sighing, "Too bad there isn't a mirror," she said looking around so she put the clips on right. She noticed Gaara holding out his hand so she gave him both the clips and he did it for her.

He sat back down and looked at her, "Perfect, matches your eyes," he said and she blushed.

"Thank you," she said again before the medic returned with the paperwork. Gaara quickly signed it and gave it back before leaving the room to let Sune get changed so they could leave.

Soon they were back in the Kazekage building heading towards his office and Sune had crutches to help her stay off her ankle for the next couple days. Once inside she plopped herself down on the couch and he sat next to her instead of going to his desk. They were quiet for a bit before Gaara decided to explain what happened on his side of the events from the day before. He told her about how Yura did a terrible impression of her and how it was finally her scent that made Gaara know that there was no way it was her.

"You really know my scent?" Sune asked when he was finished and he nodded making her blush, "How?" she asked.

"I am able to smell you every time you are close to me, how could I not know it by now?" she nodded still blushing and decided to tell him everything from her side.

She told him all about what happened with Yoshiko, Yura, and Ryu. Adding in some explanations from the past. She also told him about of her new glass jutsu, the kiss Yoshiko stole while he was transformed, and how hearing her dead aunt gave her the strength she needed. He was pleased to hear about the glass jutsu, not so pleased about Yoshiko, and surprised to hear about her dead aunt talking to her. She asked him if she was mad about Yoshiko kissing her and he claimed he wasn't while cracking his knuckles and glaring at a wall. With Yura dead, Sune thought fighting her was punishment enough for kissing her man, but Gaara didn't get to do anything to Yoshiko.

Soon Gaara left again after kissing her forehead and telling her to rest up in her room. Just after he left, Raven and Suki entered and greeted Sune. Sune asked them if Gaara had a meeting to go to right now and they both said no.

"Where do you think he went then?" she asked.

"Probably to visit his mother's grave," Raven answered.

"He does it every year on this day," Suki added.

Sune frowned until they handed her a large envelope, "What's this?" she asked.

"The pictures we took this morning," they answered, "We thought you might want a copy since you're in them."

"Oh no," Sune sighed and immediately went through the pictures. There were some of the people who were waiting at the gate for them as the sun was coming up. She had to take a double-take at one of Kankuro and Cholandra looking at each other, it made her smile to see them together. Most of the pictures of her were when she was still asleep as Gaara was carrying her. She couldn't believe how beat up she looked. She stopped when she saw one where they were entering the village gates and she was leaning her head against his shoulder, asleep, and he was looking down at her.

"I can't believe we missed all the action!" Suki pouted crossing her arms.

"We'll get a chance to kick butt next time," Raven told her.

"Yeah, but we would've swept the floor with them in no time with a Hiya! And Whoya! And a-"

"And awesome matrix moves?" Raven added.

"Yeah!" And then both pulled out sunglasses and started a play sparring match in slow motion while in midair.

"Um guys?" Sune said getting their attention. They both looked at her and in a flash the sunglasses were put away and they were standing in front of her normally.

"If I was there I would have used my super cool new jutsu that I call Pink Snow!" Suki said.

"Pink Snow?" Sune repeated curious.

"Yep! It's poisonous, that's why it turns the snow pink, cool right?" Suki smiled.

"Yeah," Sune nodded, "You sure like pink," she said and Suki nodded. "By the way, were you listening at the door by any chance?" she asked knowing the answer.

Raven and Suki stiffened, "Maybe…"

Sune just sighed, "Well I should go and take a hot bath now, I'll see you later," she said picking up her crutches and leaving.

"Do you want some help getting up the stairs?" she heard them ask.

"Nope, I can do it," Sune called back.

Soon Sune was relaxing in a nice warm bath with Bo sitting on the edge of the tub licking his paw. She had got up the stairs pretty quickly since she used her ninja skills and simply used her good foot and the crutches to jump up each section.

"This feels great," Sune sighed sinking in to her chin. _~'I wonder what he's doing right now…'~_ she thought and debated whether to use her telepathy. She decided that if he is at his mother's grave, then she should give him some privacy, since she could probably just ask him when he got back. Remembering that it's still his birthday, she thought it would be a good idea to do something nice for him and tell him happy birthday tonight. She wondered if his siblings got him anything or if they have any traditions.

~~~ Karura's Memorial ~~~

Gaara was standing in an all too familiar place at his mother's grave. Like he did many times before, he apologized for being born, causing so much trouble, for being the reason she died and taking her away from his siblings. He would add his father but he still held a grudge against him and would for some time. But this time while he was there, he said that he is no longer a monster, and as the Kazekage, he will atone for his crimes and do what he can to ensure that there will no longer be the need for people like him to even be born.

After about an hour of standing in respectful silence, with the intention of staying there until the sun went down, he soon heard two sets of footsteps coming up behind him. He looked up and spoke as they stood on either side of him, "What is it?" he asked his siblings.

"We're wondering if you're going to come back this time," Kankuro said.

"Doubt it," Gaara answered.

"I know you told us not to, but we got you gifts," Temari said and Gaara didn't respond.

"Sune is making dinner, at least come for that," Kankuro added.

Temari nodded as Gaara looked at them, "If you don't come back soon, her hard work will go to waste, you should've seen her hopping around the kitchen with only one crutch," Temari laughed.

"Anyway, food will be done soon, see you later," Kankuro stated before leaving, he was confident that Gaara would at least come back to eat, especially since it was Sune's cooking.

~~~ Later ~~~

Soon that evening Gaara returned through the front door and as he leaned back up after taking off his shoes, he was nearly tackled by Sune who fell as she stepped into the entryway to greet him. "Oh sorry Gaara," she quickly apologized and blushed as she noticed that she had her arms around his neck and his were around her waist as he held her up and kept her falling to the floor.

"Are you alright?" he asked and she nodded so he let her go making sure she was balanced before he reached down and picked up her crutch.

Next Temari and Kankuro came in and greeted him just before dragging him into the dining area, "Just in time, Sune and I just finished putting everything on the table!" Temari smiled. He had to admit, it did smell really good, and looked even better.

Before he could say anything, whether it be compliment or a decline, he was forcibly moved into a chair as a prepared plate was placed in front of him and utensils were shoved in his hands. Next a much needed, small bottle of sake was set next to him. Sune poured him a serving in his sake dish before she sat down with him and his siblings.

"It's time to eat," they said.

"I don't know if your family has any traditions for birthdays, but the men in my family would always drink some traditional sake," Sune explained.

"I just can't believe he's here," Temari said and took a bite, "Delicious!" she exclaimed followed by Kankuro.

"Thanks, it's my mother's recipe," Sune said before Gaara said it too, making her smile, "I'm glad you like it."

After they were finished, Gaara left to sit down in the living room, taking the unfinished sake with him. Sune sat next to him and spoke, "I would have made a cake but I didn't have enough time, sorry."

"You do not have to do anything for me," he told her.

"That won't stop me from wanting to," Sune reminded, "Instead I made cookies," she said before picking up a plate that had been set on the coffee table, "You should try one if you're not too full," she said.

He obliged and took one and just as he started eating it, his siblings came in with what could only be gifts, _~'Oh no,'~_ he thought and Sune looked at him wondering why he thought that. He was going to stand up and take the sake and cookies with him to his room to avoid this, but Kankuro pushed him back down and all three of them pressured him to accept them.

After much complaining and arguing, Gaara gave up, "If I do, will you leave me alone?" he finally asked and they all nodded. "Fine," he sighed and held out this hand to get it over with. He was handed a card that the elders and council members all signed a card. Even Aiya, the bookshop owner, gave him something, how she found out when his birthday is he didn't know. She gave him a book that read "Understanding Women, a book for men", the others laughed seeing it while he sweat dropped.

Raven did a painting of him and his siblings as a gift. Suki gave two pastel colored shirts and on the card it read, 'You need to lighten up and wear more COLORFUL clothes ^_^'. Naruto, Lee, and Sakura signed a card and Sakura also sent some insomnia eye ointment while Naruto and Lee sent a bright t-shirt that had 'Vote Naruto 4 Hokage' printed on the front along with a picture of themselves wearing their own and giving a thumbs up. While the others laughed, Gaara flipped over the picture and saw that it said 'You won't beat me Believe It!', he sweat dropped again. Matsuri came by the day before to drop off a gift card in a birthday card. Temari got him a certificate to a tanning salon, Sune laughed making a comment about him being so fair skinned despite living in the desert. Last, Kankuro gave him a book on paper folding and explained that it's just like the one that got destroyed when his room blew up once during a assassination attempt.

"I didn't know you did anything like this?" Sune said looking at the book.

"I have taken up quite a few hobbies in the past," he said and she looked at him shocked, "What? What did you think I would do all night when I never slept, sit patiently and twiddle my thumbs?"

She laughed nervously, "Hehe, I guess not. By the way, how did you start this?" she asked.

He shrugged, "I was just sitting there, and I started to fold this paper with me, I had nothing else to do at the time since I was on a mission with Matsuri."

"When I was younger I tried to make a thousand paper cranes for Aunt Amarante, but it didn't turn out too well," she said remembering the pile the crinkled papers that were supposed to be cranes.

"So Sune," Kankuro started, "You going to give my little brother a nice birthday kiss?" he grinned and Sune turned red.

"Actually," Gaara started, "She alrea-"

"Gaara!" Sune shrieked making Temari run back in from the kitchen carrying a couple large bottles of sake for the refills.

"What's wrong?" she asked seeing Sune hiding her red face in her hands, Kankuro snickering, and Gaara just confused. "What did you do!" Temari yelled at Kankuro and set the bottles on the table then place her hands on her hips.

"What! I didn't do anything!" Kankuro defended, "All I said was for Sune to kiss him on his birthday and then Gaara started to say something when Sune freaked out!"

"Hurm," Temari thought before turning to Gaara for answers.

Gaara shrugged, "I was trying to say that she already-"

"Gaara!" Sune shrieked again turning redder.

"Oh…" Temari said understanding.

Kankuro was still oblivious, "Com'on Sune, give him a nice big one!" he grinned and Sune turned redder, if that was even possible by now.

"Oh shut up and drink, Stupid!" Temari yelled at him as she grabbed one of the bottles of sake she just brought in, and she forced him to chug it by holding it over his mouth and pouring it down his throat.

Gaara was confused, "But last night after she found out about today she-"

"Learn to take a clue, Stupid!" Sune shrieked again and followed Temari's example by grabbing the last bottle of sake and forced him drink all of it.

When Temari and Sune released them, they both sputtered and coughed. "What the heck is wrong with you?" Kankuro shouted clutching his throat. Gaara was rubbing the spot below the collarbone as it stung to swallow that much.

"That'll teach both of you!" Temari said.

"What did we do?" they both demanded.

The girls sighed hopelessly, "We'll tell you later…" they said shaking their heads.

Kankuro and Gaara looked like they were about to say something until they both hiccupped and their faces became flushed in their intoxication. Luckily there was no more sake because all Sune and Temari had bought was just ceremonial, not enough to get wasted off of.

The rest of the night was eventful for everyone. First Kankuro just had to make sure everyone knew everything he liked about Cholandra. This consisted of her body, clothes, the way she walks, talks, and laughs, and also so far everything he knew about her, which was quite a bit since they had already spent hours talking in just the few day they knew each other. Sune blushed as Gaara said that he feels the same way about her. It almost earned him another birthday kiss whether his siblings were right there or not.

Soon Gaara went to the bathroom, or more like the nearest wrong bathroom and when he came back Sune saw that he was holding a box of tampons. "Um Gaara, what are you doing?" Sune asked him.

"What are these?" he asked looking at the box and read something about 'absorbing more blood than before', "Are they bandages?"

Sune didn't say anything as she stood there more shocked than anything else. Kankuro heard this and laughed before coming over and tried to tell Gaara that he should've got out more and continued to explain a little piece of information that Gaara obviously missed.

Temari snickered, "Don't worry, a good thing about sake is that even though you can get drunk quickly, you sober up quickly too," she told Sune before saying that she was going to go to bed.

Sune turned around to see Gaara looking at the box shocked, "So while they're…" he said and Kankuro nodded, "They put these in their…" Kankuro nodded again trying to keep from laughing at his own brother's denseness on the opposite gender. "Oh…" he said and he looked like he wanted to throw or drop the box right there. He learned something new today.

It was late now, so Sune told Gaara and Kankuro to get ready for bed since they had to work tomorrow and she was going to clean up and go to bed as well. Kankuro agreed and thanked Sune for dinner and told Gaara that he hoped next year would be even better with Sune around to keep him happy. Gaara insisted on helping Sune clean up since she was wounded and already did so much. Once they decided they did enough, he walked her to her room carrying her unused crutch. Outside her door she hugged him and said goodnight and he thanked her for everything.

"I hope you had a good birthday, goodnight," she said again and closed the door behind her.


	26. Forgiveness and Pity: Hate Dissolves

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 26**

**Forgiveness and Pity: Hate Dissolves**

After Gaara want to bed that night, he awoke in the middle of the night because of an unusual dream. He dreamt of Sune leaving him, for good. Leaving because she didn't love him anymore. He rolled over and tried to forget it knowing that Sune wouldn't do that, not now. He still couldn't help think about the 'what ifs'. What if Sune really stopped loving him? What if she really left? He didn't know what he would do if that happened. Even though he only knew her for a shot time and they have only been together was an even shorter time than that, he already couldn't imagine being without her. Without her friendly good mornings and goodnights, her soft kiss, her presence, or even her smile. She helped make him and his family happy. If she left, would that be gone too?

He rolled over again and curled up still thinking. What if she lied about caring about him at all, and used her telepathy to make sure he believed her? He knew such thoughts were ridiculous and tried to think about something else. This time he succeeded even though it was still of her. He wondered what it would be like to be with her always. Instead of saying goodnight at her bedroom door then leaving, they would go to bed together and share a couple of sweet kisses before curling up together so he could smell her scent and listen to her steady breathing as it would lure him to sleep.

He rolled onto his back with one hand behind his head and he brought his other hand to his face to touch his cheek and then his lip thinking about her kisses. Being with her always calmed him, he felt different around her, like he could share anything with her and she would smile. When he had napped or slept with her those few times altogether, he noticed that he slept better without any nightmares. He looked over at the clock and it read 3:14am and he got butterflies thinking about getting into bed with her right now for the night. He shook his head.

~~~ Morning ~~~

It was a clear, cool winter morning in Sunagakure when Sune woke up. She yawned and stretched her arms before she snuggled back into the warmth wrapped around her and pulling the blanket back up to her chin.

Sune sighed, "Gaara, what are you doing?" she asked her visitor laying next to her. When there was no answer she looked at him to find that he was asleep on top of the covers and he was wearing the brightly colored shirt he got from Naruto and Lee. Sune then looked at the clock and saw it was time to get up anyway. She sat up and stretched her upper body before moving to slide out of bed but she was stopped when Gaara suddenly grabbed her wrist.

She turned to look at him, "Don't go," he whispered, his eyes still closed.

"Gaara?" he slowly opened his eyes and looked at her, the morning sun shining through the edges of the curtains seemed to make a halo behind her. He simply stared at her. "Gaara, is something wrong?" she asked as he said nothing.

"Don't leave me," he whispered.

"But I have to get up and get dressed," she said but he still did not let go. "Are you not feeling well?" she asked trying to figure out what was going on. He shook his head. She sighed, now she understood with a little help of telepathy. "Come here," she told him and he hesitantly sat up and moved closer to her before she hugged him, "I thought I told you, you're stuck with me," she reminded and he hugged her back.

"I know, but…" he trailed off.

"But nothing," she told him, "Cheer up a little or else I just might get up off this bed and walk out that door, okay?" she asked and he nodded in response. "Okay, let's start with a good morning."

"Good morning Sune," he tried to smile, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes I did, thank you," she said before pecking him on the lips, "Helps to wake up next to my favorite boy," she giggled trying to cheer him up, then a cat meowed from the floor, she giggled again, "Sorry Bo, I meant second favorite."

"Hey," Gaara pouted.

She laughed, "How about tied for first?"

"I guess…" Gaara said, being tied with a cat is better than being second to a cat.

"Okay, now let me get up before someone comes looking for you," she said and he did so she grabbed a crutch to stand up before trying to put pressure on her wounded ankle. She smiled and put the crutch back down and went into her bathroom.

~~~ Later ~~~

"I can't believe I'm about to do this," Yoshiko said to himself about to knock on the door before him. He stopped himself unable to do it. "No, this was a bad idea, but…" he raised his fist again but couldn't knock, "Come on, I have to, I have nowhere else to go, this is just the first step…" again he raised his fist and didn't knock again. He sighed and rested his hand on the doorframe then rested his forehead on that hand.

After Yura died, Yoshiko had taken her body back to her sister, who was her only family, and tried to explain everything. He couldn't count how many times he had apologized to the woman. When he left he realized that he didn't know what to do or where to go. He didn't have any family and he couldn't show his face in his hometown after leaving with Yura, abandoning his few friends and pledge to protect that place. It didn't help that Yura got him to burn his house down so he wouldn't be temped to return. The fire turned out to be more destructive than planned.

"You wanted an adventure," he said. "You got one alright, and I got more than I bargained for. What was I thinking?" he stood there for another minute going over what he was going to say once he was inside. Summoning all the courage he had he knocked on the door, the door to the Kazekage's office.

Then there was silence. No one answered so he knocked again, and again nothing. Boldly he pushed down on the handle and peeked inside to see that there was no one there. He stepped inside and the door closed behind him. He looked around the office imagining the Kazekage sitting at his desk and Sune sitting on the sofa. Again, he couldn't believe he was about to do this, let alone standing inside this room at all.

Suddenly the door made a click sound behind him and he turned to see the Kazekage standing in the doorway looking at him surprised as he held the door open for Sune who a second later stepped into the doorway and met his eyes with another shocked expression.

Before anything else could happen, Yoshiko put his hands up, "I'm not here to fight," he said quickly, really afraid for his life.

Sune was about to step towards him but Gaara put an arm in front of her, "Then why are you here?" he demanded coldly.

There was a pause as Yoshiko couldn't think of how to respond, "I don't know," he answered truthfully, "I think… to make peace."

There was long silence while Yoshiko stood there with his hands still up and Gaara glared at him. Sune wasn't sure what to make of the situation but knew that Yoshiko was being honest, for once in his life. "Gaara, I think we should hear him out," she told him.

He looked at her for a moment and understood, "Alright, we will talk," he agreed then walked past Yoshiko and sat at his desk. Yoshiko cringed as he went by, preparing for the worst then he turned around slowly to face him. "You can put your hands down, I know you are unarmed," Gaara told him and he did as Sune sat on the sofa.

Yoshiko stood silently recalling the image he envisioned when he first entered that was now before him. His eyes shifted over to Sune as she looked at him emotionlessly then to the Kazekage who looked like he could kill him at any moment. Yoshiko took a breath and reminded himself of the things he already planned to say.

"I'm sorry," he apologized and bowed deeply, to the last person he ever imagined.

"You have five minutes to talk," Gaara told him and Yoshiko stood upright and nodded.

Yoshiko then explain the situation to both of them. Starting from the beginning, he told them that Yura wanted to travel to see many things and have an adventure. He told them that he was blind not to see what was really happening when Yura was using everyone. How he thought what he was doing was the only choice, the right thing to do, but now he has nothing. He had lost everything and now he wants to follow Sune's example to come to Sunagakure and start over.

"And I am willing to accept whatever punishments necessary for my crimes," Yoshiko finished and watched Gaara look to Sune.

She nodded, "Everything he said was true," she confirmed, she had been using her telepathy the whole time to make sure.

Gaara nodded and looked back to Yoshiko, "You can stay in Sunagakure," he said, "But you will be on probation for one year, that means you cannot practice the ninja arts under any circumstances or you will end up with worse consequences."

"But I don't know how to do anything else," Yoshiko said, unsure how he was suppose to make a living without his ninja arts, and for a whole year!

"You do not need to for what I have in mind," Gaara said. "Raven! Suki!" he called towards the door. Yoshiko had a bad feeling that increased when he saw Sune smirk seemly amused just before the door opened and the two entered the office.

"Yes?" Raven and Suki said ready for the orders.

"You two will be in charge of him, keep him busy and make him earn his way up for the next year before he is allowed to be assigned any missions."

"What!" they both protested.

"Why do we have to baby-sit!" Suki whined.

"I almost forgot," Gaara added, "He has to do everything you tell him."

"Everything?" Raven asked.

"Everything and anything," Gaara confirmed. Raven and Suki then grinned malevolently and Yoshiko's bad feeling almost turned into panic and fear for his life.

"Is there something wrong, Yoshiko?" Gaara asked almost tauntingly from his desk.

"Er… no," he said, determined to go through with any challenges thrown at him.

"Wait, 'Yoshiko'?" Raven repeated.

"As in…?" Suki trailed off and they both looked to Sune who nodded, "Oh, this is going to be fun, don't you agree Raven?" Suki said rubbing her hands together.

"Indeed," Raven said tapping her fingers together, plotting like.

Yoshiko gulped and tried to decide whether it was too late to turn back. Instead, he tried to turn on his charm, "I will do my best to meet your expectations of me," he said to them, with the anime sparkle effect.

They laughed outright, "Look, being charming isn't going to work on us," Raven said.

"Not to mention you're like over a year younger than us, gross," Suki added.

"We need to make our morning rounds, can we come back and get him later?" Raven asked the Kazekage.

"We should be able to find lots of stuff for him to do once we return," Suki added.

"Very well, and send someone to seal his chakra, dismissed," Gaara said and they nodded and disappeared.

Yoshiko turned back unsure what he was suppose to do now and saw the Kazekage writing something, perhaps filling out a form of his probation or something of the sort. Sune was looking at her feet, he saw she was wearing a simple ankle brace. He remembered seeing her ankle wrapped up when he almost ran into them in the forest the night the battle ended, she obviously couldn't move on it then.

Sune suddenly looked up at him, "You saw me in the forest?" she asked and the Kazekage looked up at him as well when he heard her.

_~'Crap…'~_ he thought remembering that she was keeping a very close eye on him with her telepathy, "Um, yeah… That was the quickest way to the road that leads to Yura's sister's place," he explained.

"What did you see?" Sune asked carefully.

He thought about it, "Enough to be very confused," he told her remembering what he saw, ~'_They can barely make-out yet, that was the most boring-'~_

The next thing Yoshiko knew, Sune was screaming 'pervert' and slapping him with a file over the head and arms as he blocked his head.

"How am I a pervert when there was nothing to see!" he defended still being slapped, "Seriously, that was the most boring kissing or make-out session in the world!"

"What!" Sune screamed still slapping him.

"Oh come on, ouch! There was no touching of any kind, it not like I saw you doing anything bad!" he defended and she stopped slapping him, "Unless you're hiding something I didn't see…" he muttered as she turned around. She turned around ready to hit him again, "Wait! It was just a joke!" he defended putting his hands over his head again. She let it go and sat down again, and Gaara was ignoring the whole situation.

It was quiet again as Sune looked out the window after she sat down and Yoshiko hovered nervously. "Sune, could you take a look at this?" Gaara asked her from his desk.

"Sure," she said going to him and took a small stack of papers to fill in a few blanks that had to with Yoshiko sentence and probation. "Okay, I think that's it," she said sliding them back to him, they looked at each other for a moment before he looked the papers over one last time a placed and them aside as she sat down again.

Yoshiko watched them closely because as he still cared about her, but he hated him and wanted to analyze their situation. "You haven't been seeing each other for very long, have you?" Yoshiko asked before thinking. He always had a tendency to talk a lot when he is nervous, something he always disliked about himself even though girls usually told him it was cute, he wasn't so sure about that.

"What does it matter to you?" Sune asked wondering why her ex is asking her about her current relationship.

Yoshiko tried to cover it up, "Uh, just thinking, about stuff," he responded, and so 'articulately'. It was really the way they looked at each other that made him think. The way Sune looked at the Kazekage, it was similar to the way she use to look at him, but even he could see there was more to it now. Now that he lost Yura, seeing them made him a little jealous, which made him angry because he hated the Kazekage. He also noted that their relationship must still be in the early stages but already developing emotionally since they're still distant physically. He knew that's the way it should be if his assumptions were correct so Yoshiko knew that he shouldn't be worrying about Sune too much at this point in time.

"May I ask you a question?" Sune asked Yoshiko. He was surprised but nodded. "Why is it that you hate Gaara so much?" she asked, though hearing his thoughts about so many times now, he never thought about the reasons why. He would start to think about it but always quickly pushed it to the back of his mind, out of Sune's reach unless she went digging, so to speak.

Gaara looked up at them curious. He was use to people hating him, the reasons always being the same. Something told him this time wouldn't be any different.

Yoshiko sighed, "Because he killed my older brother."

Sune gasped and looked at Gaara, who shrugged, "It's possible," he said before looking at Yoshiko, "What was his name?"

Yoshiko was about to ask why he wanted to know but decided to tell him anyway, "Watashi Aivona."

Gaara was silent as he backed up his chair slightly to open a drawer that was usually locked and he took out a scroll. He opened it and searched through its text. "Here," he said turning the scroll around and putting to the edge of his desk for Yoshiko see.

Yoshiko looked at it to see a long list of names and dates next to them. The third to the last name on the scroll was his brother, and the date was the day before Yoshiko found out he died. "What is this?" he asked, he wanted to know why the Kazekage would have his brother's name and date of death on a scroll that he kept in his desk.

"This is the list my father was making before he was killed," Gaara started, "These are the all people he sent to assassinate me, the first started when I was six years old. Looks like your brother was an assassin, and yes, I killed him, I willing killed many of these shinobi for seven years."

Yoshiko and Sune stared at the list shocked by how many names were listed, "What do these numbers mean?" Sune asked pointing at some numbers listed along the bottom every ten or so names.

"The payment, he hoped raising it would attract someone powerful enough to defeat me," he told her as Yoshiko stared at his brother's name. Then there was a knock at the door and Gaara told them to enter, it was the sealing specialist.

"I'm ready for the offender," a young woman said respectfully, she had white hair and was dressed in all black with a sky blue sash.

As Yoshiko left with the woman he heard Sune's voice speaking to the Kazekage, "Who was the first person?" she asked indicating the list.

"My uncle," he said. Yoshiko's thoughts about the Kazekage were even more mixed up after today, he left the room feeling pity, something he thought he would never feel towards his brother's killer. Now his chakra was going to be sealed for a whole year, and he didn't know what he was suppose to do without it, being a ninja was all he knew. But maybe living without it would be a change for the better, nothing ever seemed to go right as a ninja anyway.


	27. Under the Shining Stars: Valentines

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 27**

**Under the Shining Stars: Valentines**

It was four weeks after Yoshiko's arrival. Gaara and Kankuro were in an important meeting with all the elders and elite Jonin. Things were going pretty smoothly for everyone during the last month regarding work and missions.

Two weeks ago Gaara got an ear full from Temari about going into a girl's bedroom in the middle of the night, since Sune let it slip, so there was no more of that. Though one morning, she opened her bedroom door and he had being sitting outside on the floor against it. He fell backwards and landed in front of her. She asked him why he was there and he simply said that he was worried about her because she had been having nightmares.

Yoshiko has been doing tasks all over the village since Raven and Suki were always keeping him busy. For now he was living in a one room apartment down the street from where Raven and Suki lived so they could keep an eye on him. He seemed to be cooperating and adjusting just fine to not being able to use his chakra. He didn't seem to be adjusting to being alone so well as he was quiet and glum almost all the time. He worked from sunrise to sunset, he swore that Raven and Suki were turning him into their personal slave sometimes because of the kind of jobs they assigned him.

Sune started training in medical ninjutsu. At the hospital training center, she's always being asked about Gaara by the younger nurses that have a crush on him ever since they found out she's living in the Kazekage building. She tries to play indifferent but the girls already suspect something is going on.

Today was Valentines Day and Temari was in Konoha visiting Shikamaru for a few days. Gaara and Kankuro were taking Sune and Cholandra to separate, up scale restaurants for dinner this evening.

Sune came downstairs to wait for Gaara until after the meeting was over. She was already dressed for dinner, with her hair done in long wavy shining curls and she was wearing a white mid-length dress with a wide lace trim along the bottom. Gaara got the dress for her a week ago and it was Raven and Suki who delivered it to her. They told her it was from him and that he would have given it to her himself, but he had a meeting that he knew was going to run very late. Raven and Suki told her that they suspected that he was just too embarrassed.

Sune sighed and fiddled with her purse as she waited until the main door opened from outside. It was Cholandra. Sune hurried to greet her and help her remove her coat.

"Cholandra, you look wonderful!" Sune exclaimed seeing her, "Kankuro isn't going to know what to do with himself when he sees you," she laughed friendly.

Cholandra blushed, "You think so?" she smiled. Her violet hair hung freely over her shoulders and she wore contacts, instead of her large thick glasses, revealing her violet eyes. She was wearing a long satin dress of a deep purple shade with a slit up one side and the strap went over one shoulder. "I must say that you look so much more radiant, Sune," Cholandra commented.

"Thank you," Sune smiled, "Gaara picked out this dress," she said and turned for her to see.

"Really? He must have good tastes, it looks wonderful on you."

Kankuro then entered already dressed for dinner. He looked at Cholandra before realizing it was her, and was shocked, "Cholandra, you look amazing," he said dreamingly while blushing furiously.

She blushed and smiled, "You look handsome as well."

He grinned happily, "Are you all ready to go?" he asked offering his hand.

"I am," she smiled placing her hand in his. He led her to the door and helped her put on her coat again.

"Sune, Gaara said he will be down in a minute, he had to get something first," he told her as he opened the door for Cholandra.

"Alright, and have a nice time, see you later," Sune smiled and waved as they left and also said their goodbyes. Sune was happy for them and hoped that it would work out since they seemed to really like each other. Whenever she was with either of them, they were always talking about the other. She thought it was cute, a little annoying sometimes, but sweet.

A moment later she turned around to sit down again but a whirl of sand appeared with Gaara. She smiled as she ran to hug him. He stared at her in awe, "Beautiful," was all he managed to say when she let go of him.

She laughed at his articulacy, "Thank you," she said before pecking his cheek and taking his hand to lead him towards the door.

She stopped to pick up her purse and jacket, but he took them from her and helped her put on her jacket before handing her purse to her. "The dress looks better on you than it did in the shop window," he commented as she moved her hair to hang over the outside of her jacket.

"You think so?" she blushed and he nodded with a shy smile.

He made a move towards the door before stopping suddenly, "Oh wait," he said digging into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box, "Here, this is for you," he said.

She took it wondering what it could be before she opened it to see a pair of ruby heart earrings, "Oh wow, are these real?" she asked eager to put them on, whether they were real or not she didn't really care since they were from him.

"Yes, to own a ruby may bring contentment and peace, it is said that placing it under a pillow may ward off bad dreams."

"It is also said to be filled with love," she added blushing and making him blush slightly, "Are you saying that I should put them under my pillow at night?" she giggled.

"Er- no, I mean- only if you want to," he stuttered making her giggle again.

She put on the earrings, "How do I look?" she asked.

"Roses would be ashamed to bloom in your presence," he said being truly articulate this time and she blushed deeply.

She gave him her gift of a wide flat box that contained a fountain pen and a sharp gold-colored letter opener. She apologized that the gift not being as thoughtful as his, but he assured her it was and was surprised she knew what he needed for his office. He said that he will use them everyday. His way of saying that he'll think of her whenever he uses them.

The restaurant he took her too was certainly elegant, more so than anything Sune had ever been to before. Each table had it's own little booth, more like a room, with a paper sliding door with sakura blossom tree silhouettes painted on them. Once they were shown their table, she wasn't even sure what many of the items on the menu were. Gaara admitted that he wasn't sure what they were either, but had his own recommendations. After the waitress left with their orders, Sune noticed that it seemed like every employee found an excuse to walk by their table. Which was more strange since they were in a booth in the back corner, the spot was specifically reserved to prevent people from being nosy.

Gaara stood up and slid the door closed after only a few minutes. "I did not know this was a strange and unnatural phenomenon," he commented sitting down again.

Sune laughed, "They're just curious about what got you out of that office to do something nice on Valentines Day."

"They are curious about you," he stated picking up his tea.

"Maybe," she said also picking up her tea. She wondered what kind of place Kankuro was taking Cholandra to while thinking that it would be funny if they were unknowingly at the same restaurant. Not that they would know while within these little rooms unless someone was talking loud.

They continued talking and soon they got their meals. Sune noticed that Gaara was eating a lot more lately. Sune guessed that it might be because he's sixteen and will be a bottomless pit until he stops growing and that this sudden change might be because he's about to grow more soon. She also told him about her training lately and how it's still going good.

"Glad to here," he responded. "Just tell me immediately if there is something else you want to do instead," he reminded.

"I know," she smiled. She thought about her parent's occupation and sighed.

He noticed, "What are you thinking about?" he asked but she simply shrugged. "You are the one who can hear thoughts, not me," he reminded.

She looked at him then back down at her plate, "I haven't heard from my parents in a while," she told him.

"I see, that is apprehensive."

"The last letter I received from them was well over a month ago. I know that they must have been busy or on the road, but…" she trailed off as he listened carefully, "It's been too long and I'm not sure what I should do," she looked to him.

"Would you like me to make a suggestion?"

She nodded, "Please."

"I think you should go look for them."

She thought about it for a minute while he continued eating, she was already full and stopped eating. "Would that be okay?" she asked him.

"Of course, and once you find them you can ask for some medical training, from what I hear they are quite skilled." She smiled, glad that he was supportive and seemed sure that things were fine. "You are going to want to leave soon, correct?" he asked.

She hadn't thought that far yet but nodded. "Maybe in a couple days, so I can pack and stuff."

He nodded, "That sounds acceptable."

After a small dessert, they left for the Kazekage building and as they walked together he simply put his arm around her shoulders and rested his hand on her opposite one, something he hadn't done before. She welcomed the gesture by leaning her head on his shoulder.

Sune yawned as they walked, "Mm, I think I ate too much, I feel tired."

"Do you want me to carry you?" he offered.

She shook her head against his shoulder, "I'll be fine," she smiled reassuringly, not sure if he could even see her smile.

"Did you enjoy the evening?" he asked as they came to the door and he opened it for her.

"Yes, everything was perfect, thank you," she smiled and headed for the stairs as he followed.

Soon they came to the door to the living section and Gaara turned to her, "This is as far as I am going, I have to go finish a few things," he said and she simply looked at him as if expecting something. "What is it?" he asked.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" she asked and he looked at her confused, "You're suppose to give me one last thing now," she said.

"I am?" he blinked, clueless.

She laughed slightly, "This is when you're suppose to kiss me goodnight after taking me home, Gaara," she spelled out for him. It's still Valentines day after all.

He had an expression of realization before placing a finger under her chin and leaning in to kiss her, capturing one of her lips between his and gently sucking before brushing his tongue against it making her shiver slightly under the new sensual feeling. As his fingers stayed under her chin, hers moved up to his arm while their free hands found each other and their fingers laced together. As they parted their noses brushed against one another. "Goodnight," he whispered before kissing her forehead and stepping back.

She took both his hands, "Are you going now?" she asked and he nodded. "Again, thank you for everything tonight, dinner was lovely," she added.

"You are welcome," he said and opened the door for her. She went inside and watched him walk away until he was out of sight.

She had to admit, the date was virtually perfect and went just like she imagined it should. He gave her a thoughtful gift, took her to a nice dinner, walked her home, and it ended just right. Sune yawned and sat on the couch before slipping off her shoes and putting up her feet to watch a little television. Bo joined her and minutes later Kankuro came back but only to change and leave again to help Gaara. Turns out there is a lot of resent activity in the Akatsuki and most of the hidden village leaders are working together to do something about it.

Soon Sune turned off the television and simply looked out the window to watch the stars until Gaara came back. That is, if he came back before morning. She yawned again and the next thing she knew, she was hearing Gaara say her name. She opened her eyes to find that she had fallen asleep and he had returned a couple hours later.

"Gaara?" she said sleepily before she felt herself being lifted into his arms. The next thing she knew again, she was being placed on her bed and a blanket was draped over her. Gaara said goodnight and as he closed the door behind him, Sune could hear his and Kankuro's voices in the hallway before drifting back into a deep sleep.

Gaara told Kankuro about Sune leaving to search for her parents soon. Kankuro could hardly believe that it was Gaara that suggested it. He asked why they couldn't just send a team to look but Gaara told him that isn't what Sune wanted to hear, let alone do. Then they told each other a little bit about their dates, they both went well. Then they went to bed as well.

~~~ Two days later ~~~

A couple days later, Temari returned and they were all helping Sune pack for her journey. Kankuro and Cholandra spent most of the time flirting and Gaara had to leave a handful of times to go back to his office. It was mostly because some teams were returning from missions. When Gaara returned to Sune's room, Kankuro and Cholandra had left to get lunch, and Temari was taking a break. Sune was trying to decided if she should take any pictures with her, but it would be a shame it they got lost or stolen.

Gaara went back to what he was doing before he left, which was putting together a kit of her most needed medical supplies. It had to be small enough to travel with but still efficient. He opened a drawer that was said to have some gauze, but he found her delicates instead. Thinking they were just rags and other fabrics, he ended up grabbing a white bra with a lacy trim. He held it above the drawer while inspecting it before he realized what it was. When he did he quickly dropped it back in and immediately shut that drawer as his face turned as red as his hair. Turns out that when Sune says 'that drawer' she means the bottom one, not the top.

Later that night everyone sat in the living room talking and joking. Raven and Suki even came with snacks and drinks as a gift for Sune's last night in the Sand Village. At one point Gaara and Sune were flirting and when everyone else had enough, they threw random objects at them to get them to stop while yelling 'get a room' and 'take it somewhere else'. In all the night was fun and memorable for Sune despite worrying about her parents who she still hadn't heard from.

The next day was quiet as Sune looked over her things one last time and left with the others who were seeing her off. They walked to the village gates and said their goodbyes and everyone left to start work, besides Gaara who stayed for a more personal seeing off.

"I have something for you, it might help you on your journey," Gaara started pulling something out of this pocket. It was a small gourd of special sand attached to a long chain. He put it over her head so it would hang from her neck. She took the sand in her hand and looked at it as he spoke, "That is some of my most powerful sand. If you are ever in danger it will protect you and this time it can counter and return to that chain which also contains chakra. Think of the chain as a way for it to re-charge."

"Whoa," Sune gasped, "You sure thought of everything, I hope I don't have to use it though."

"I agree," he said and they stood silently looking at each other.

Sune took a breath, there was something she had been wanting to say for a while now but for some reason she couldn't even though knowing it would be okay. If she didn't say it now, she thought she might regret it the entire time she's gone and would have to wait until she returned. She stepped closer to him and placed her hands on his collar so she could reach up and kiss him lightly, "I love you," she said softly looking into cyan eyes.

He looked shocked momentarily before a genuine smile lit up his features. He had never heard those words spoken to him before, the words alone gave him a strange feeling, a good one, being loved. Now he knew this was his chance to confess in his own words, "I… love you… too," he said carefully trying out the words for the first time, it felt good to tell her.

She smiled brightly and hopped up kissing him again. They stayed there not wanting to leave each other until a guard found them and told Gaara that he had to see the elders immediately. The two said their final goodbyes and affections and she promised to write all the time before they went their separate ways.

As Sune walked she couldn't stop smiling, not even thinking about how long it might be before she sees him again. She couldn't wait to see the look on her parents faces when she tells them that she and the Kazekage of the Sand are in love. She stopped and looked up that sky while going over the journey plan. First she must find her parents and make sure they are okay. Then help them if it turns out they are over worked. And last, get any special training at Gaara's request. She wondered what will be going on in Sunagakure during her absence. Hopefully nothing to big.


	28. Raven and Suki: Episode 2

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 28**

**Sand Adventures: Raven and Suki; Episode 2**

It had been a little over three months since Sune left. She had started her specialized medical training from her parents and will continue to travel with them for a short time to get even more training and information from other skilled medics in the Land of Wind. So far the training was going very well.

Many Sand ninja are away in Konoha to help with the repairs after being attacked by the Akatsuki, namely Pain, who finally went after Naruto and the Kyuubi. The village was in pretty bad shape after the battle. Luckily, all the villagers were able to escape in time and now were living in camps while helping rebuild Konoha from the ground up. Yamato was the most helpful in this. Shikamaru was in Suna for the time being to manage and communicate the progress between the two villages. Gaara was offering everything he could to help Tsunade. He understood how it must have felt, he died once keeping his village safe and would've hated having to watch it get destroyed along with everyone in it just because of one person.

For the most part, there was good news in the Sand Village. Business was booming because of the extra tourism lately from the refugees and just in general from the new editions to the Village. Parks, fountains, and plenty of green was added during the oasis restoration plan, which is done for the year. Now they have to focus on the upkeep of what has been done, that'll be good Genin missions. There was also a good mission success rate, Gaara was glad about that since there was a new group of advancing Genin already.

The news in the Kazekage family was also good. Kankuro and Cholandra have been officially going steady and she was in the Kazekage building almost all the time now when she wasn't teaching. The manor is almost finished. All that's left is the final security seals and checks to make sure nobody set any traps. They were planning on moving in after another month or two.

Being spring time in Sunagakure meant there was only a few clouds in sight. Raven and Suki were looking at the latest postcard from Sune. Yoshiko was nearby cleaning the windows of the academy from a rickety ladder that kept wobbling. The postcard had a picture of a hot guy that said, "He's all yours" as a joke.

"Now this is a hot guy!" Suki exclaimed and Raven agreed, "Way better than Sasuke!" they both cringed. Many ninja that worked in the Kazekage building have heard about him and what's he's done.

"Stupid Sasgay…" Raven muttered.

"We ought to hunt him down and kick his butt!"

Raven nodded, "I'll snipe him wherever he is, I'll never forgive him for what he did to that poor Itachi!"

"He's stupid and ugly and I hate him!" Suki declared as Yoshiko started listening to them.

"We can pretend to try to be saving him… and then… we really rib open his chest to squeeze the life out of his heart…" Raven plotted darkly.

"We can blow him up, chop him into tiny pieces, and feed'm to the sharks…" Suki plotted.

Yoshiko cringed, "I hope they're not talking about me…" Yoshiko said to himself as he cleaned another window from the rickety ladder. Suddenly Raven and Suki burst into evil laughter almost making him fall off the ladder.

Then another ninja popped in and told Raven and Suki that it was time for them to complete the scheduled rain. They set off on their task immediately.

"Did we finish the sprinkler system for the summertime?" Suki asked Raven.

"Yes, did we add the ice blocks to all the largest tree's foundation?" she answered as they made their to the village boarder.

"Yes, we had Water team two with us, remember?"

"Right, that's good."

Once at the walls surrounding the village Suki jumped up one side while Raven disappeared into mist and appeared on the other side of the village. Together they summoned a cloud and it rained on Suna.

Yoshiko was still on the ladder cleaning the academy windows as it started raining. He looked up at the sky wondering how they were able to do it. As he turned back to the window of the empty classroom, his foot slipped on the wet rung and he caught himself on another rung until the ladder fell with him entirely. He simply laid there and stared at the sky while it rained.

Raven and Suki stopped after an hour and returned to Yoshiko's location. They arrived at the same time to see him setting the latter back up against the building. He turned to them, "Someone just came by and said that the Kazekage wants to see you soon," he informed.

~~~ Shortly after ~~~

The two arrived at the Kazekage building and chatted with the secretary for a couple minutes before they strode into the office. Gaara looked up from his desk as they opened the door before looking back to fold a paper and hide it until Raven appeared beside him and snatched the paper.

"Hey, it's a letter from Sune," she stated looking at it.

"Really?" Suki appeared next to her, "It must be a LOVE letter since he was trying to hide it!" Suki said happily.

"That means they're maintaining a long distance relationship," Raven observed, "Good for you!" she said to Gaara as he snatched back the letter before they could read it.

Temari then popped her head in the door, "Hey Gaara, I'm going to the communication tower."

"Okay, for how long?" he asked holding the letter behind him to keep it away from the other two.

"Awhile, but I'll be back for the meeting later," she said before looking at Raven and Suki, "Be nice, he's really shy about the letters," she giggled before closing the door again.

Gaara cleared his throat, "Anyway, I called you here because Cholandra needs assistance with her class this afternoon."

"We're on it," they confirmed and left to go back to the academy. After they were gone Gaara reclined in his chair, with his feet up on the desk, as he reopened the letter again to continue reading.

Raven and Suki arrived at Cholandra's classroom. Today she was teaching only the girls of the class and Raven and Suki were to demonstrate jutsu and show that girls can be formable opponents in battle.

"Okay girls," Suki stared, "Time to go outside so we can demonstrate some of our super awesome jutsu!"

As they led the class outside Cholandra turned to the other two, "Again, thank you for coming today, the girls really appreciate it."

"No problem," Raven said.

"We're happy to do it!" Suki smiled.

At the courtyard, the students sat at some benches and Cholandra instructed them to watch and pay attention.

Suki spoke to the class first, "Let's see, first off we're going to need a volunteer to demonstrate the jutsu on," Suki said making the young girls and Cholandra look worried.

"Don't worry though we already have someone in mind," Raven said before she pulled out a small bell and rang it. A puff of smoke appeared about ten feet in the air then Yoshiko fell out of it and hit the ground. He had still been cleaning windows when he was summoned off of the ladder. He sat up confused and wondered why they couldn't just yell for him like normal people.

"Hey Yoshiko," Suki started, "Go stand over there," she said pointing to an empty area.

Yoshiko blinked confused and stood up, "Okay…" he said obeying.

Raven turned to the class, "Unfortunately, genjutsu won't work on him because his chakra is sealed, I'm sure you've learned about genjutsu and the effects on a person's chakra." Raven and Suki turned to Yoshiko and he had a bad feeling based on their expressions. "You do the honors Suki," Raven offered.

"Sure," Suki said and started some hand signs.

Yoshiko's eyes widened, "Wait, what are you planning on doing?" he didn't get a chance to say anything else.

"Snowflake Shuriken Jutsu!" Suki called and threw dozens of shuriken made of ice in the shape of snowflakes. Yoshiko ran around frantically as he managed to dodge them.

"Lighting Whip Jutsu!" Raven called and a lighting infused chakra ninjutsu lashed at him multiple times, barely missing.

"Diamond Ice Jutsu!" Large sparkling ice shards appeared and floated around Suki and shot through the air at Yoshiko, he screamed and rushed to dodge all of them.

"Don't worry girls," Raven turned to them, "We're not going all out to keep him from being in any real danger." She turned back to Yoshiko, "Sniper Jutsu!" A water and lighting combo ninjutsu was shot at him, liquid bullets flew past his ears and left holes in the walls of the courtyard behind him.

"Snow Storm Jutsu!" Yoshiko was surround by snow and ice whirling around him.

"Tsunami Wave Jutsu!" Water came straight at him, his reaction was to jump on top of the water, but he forgot that his chakra was sealed and he fell right in as it washed over him.

"And my favorite, Pink Snow Jutsu."

"Wait Suki," Raven said, "We haven't developed the cure for the poison effects of that jutsu yet."

"Aw, but I want a chance to use it at least once while we're in the scene," Suki pouted.

"I know, at least we got to showoff some of our skills."

Yoshiko was sitting on the ground panting and dripping wet, "Are you done now?" he called to them.

"Yes, all finished!" Raven and Suki called back.

"Well now, wasn't that interesting girls?" Cholandra asked her still watching students. The students had been very entertained watching the different jutsu being thrown at Yoshiko, they were laughing and now they applauded. Raven and Suki grinned and laughed too.

At the end of the school day, Raven and Suki headed to the Kazekage building to do some paperwork about the final induced-rain for the season and to log-in their hours at the academy today. In no time they were finished and stood up from their desks to leave for home. As soon as they pushed in their chairs, Kankuro rushed in and held out an open book for them to see.

"Is this true?" he asked almost excited.

"Is what true?" Raven and Suki asked confused.

"Cholandra just told us that kissing is healthy, and when we were unsure about it she showed us this book, " he explained as Gaara and Shikamaru came and stood in the doorway to wait for the answer. Raven and Suki didn't even look at the book and simply crossed their arms ready to explain.

"It's true, but probably not in the way you're thinking of," Suki started.

Raven nodded, "Kissing releases the same neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers in the brain, that are released when you engage in exercise such as running. It causes your heart to beat faster and your breathing to become deep and irregular."

"That's means you burn calories," Suki added, "You can burn twenty-six calories in one minute."

"It's been found that prolonged ones can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels," Raven added.

"Kissing can also result in a healthier mouth and increased immunity, and that's just the physical side of it," Suki pointed out, "There is also the mental and emotional benefits as well, like emotional bonding and stress reduction," she finished.

The guys just stood there in a mix of surprise and awe. "I knew the bonding part, but whoa," Kankuro started and took a moment to think, "Wait, what about the "physical" physical stuff?" he asked suggestively using the finger quotations.

Raven and Suki glared and rose their fists back, he knew what was coming, "Pervert!" they both shouted and punched him. He was sent flying through the door where Gaara and Shikamaru were already ducking.

"If you want to know about that stuff, don't even think about asking us! We're assistances not your personal database!" Then they left stepping over Kankuro in the hallway. As they rounded the corner, Cholandra caught up to Kankuro.

"What happened? I thought you were going to ask them about the book?" Cholandra asked kneeling next to Kankuro.

"They were being mean to me…" Kankuro said with anime tears, "I asked them a question about it and they hit me."

"You poor thing," Cholandra consoled patting his shoulder.

"You idiot, you asked them more than that," Shikamaru sighed, "You should know better than to ask an employee something like that, especially women."

"You can't talk to me like that," Kankuro retorted.

"But it is true," Gaara stated.

Kankuro gasped and jumped to his feet, "You're taking HIS side?" Gaara said nothing. "I can't believe this, my only brother and our sister's boyfriend!" Gaara and Shikamaru sighed and turned to leave. "Hey, where are you going?" Kankuro shouted.

"We have a game of shoji to finish," Shikamaru called back.

"No fair…" Kankuro pouted.

"You still have me," Cholandra smiled, reminded him the reason he was here in the first place.

"Oh yeah! I've got something better!" Kankuro grinned, "Com'on Cholandra, we've got to boost our immune systems!" she laughed and followed him.

~~~ Outside ~~~

"Of all the nerve…" Suki grumbled as they walked on the pathway through the new park gardens.

"Yeah," Raven agreed, "Next time I say we slice off his-"

"Hey!" someone called, it was Yoshiko. They had forgot about him. "I finished all the windows," he informed.

"Good," Raven said.

"This means you have the day off tomorrow after your medical check-ups," Suki said.

"Really?" Yoshiko asked suspicious, "What's the catch? Organize a roomful of files first? Or wax the floors of someplace?"

"Maybe we're just tired of looking at you," Raven smirked. "Just go home, we don't want to hear from you until the day after tomorrow," she ordered.

"Um okay," he said unsure what he was going to do. He walked away then jumped behind a bush and peered over it at them.

"What are you doing?" Suki asked.

"Being prepared for a trap or a sneak attack…" he said simply.

"Now that's kinda insulting," Raven said, "If we were going to kill you, we would've done it right in front of you a long time ago." He was quiet and not moving. Raven sighed, "If you don't go home now maybe I'll change my mind…" she threatened. Still, he didn't move so Raven pulled out her sword and stepped towards him. Before she could take another step, he was running for his life. Raven turned back around, "Finally, we can go home!"

"I'm going to eat some more brownies!" Suki said happily.

"That donut I didn't get to eat this morning is calling me…"

~~~ Elsewhere ~~~

Sune just finished putting the X's and O's at the bottom of her next letter to Gaara. She knew it was silly but with each letter she would add one more X or O. Her parents were still having a hard time with the fact that their daughter was dating the Kazekage. Her father was trying to think of a threat that he could say to his little girl's boyfriend, but since Gaara's a powerful ninja, a kage no less, her father was coming up empty and thus disappointed since he felt it was his right to threaten any boyfriend of his 'only princess' as he put it. Sune's mother on the other hand, was so happy that she was already planning the wedding, big and extravagant, but also didn't know how she was going to interact with him.

"Is that another letter to Gaara-sama?" Sune's mother asked.

"Yep, just finished."

"You should tell him to call me Mom," she suggested.

Sune laughed, "I'll think about it, but he'd probably say that you'd have to stop calling him Gaara-sama and Kazekage-sama," she explained.

Her mother laughed as well, "But that would weird!"

"It might be weird for him to call you Mom, remember he doesn't have a mother."

"I guess we'll have to see," she smiled, "Who are those from?" she asked pointing to a couple letters.

"Those are from Raven and Suki, remember, I told you about them."

"Oh right, what do they have to say?"

"I dunno, I was going to read them now," Sune said picking them up. Raven's letters consisted of doodles and long tangents about random things with only one paragraph about village updates. Suki's letters were also a bunch or random things and this time she sent some pictures of the two in a photo booth. "See Mom, they sent some pictures, this is them," she showed her mother, "It catches their personalities well," Sune and her mother laughed. Sune sighed, "I can't wait to finish my training and get back to the village."

"With how fast you're progressing, it'll be in no time at all," her mother smiled. Sune smiled as well. 


	29. Reunion: Sune Returns!

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 29**

**Reunion: Sune Returns! **

It was a warm summer morning in the Sand Village as everyone started their day. Yesterday Gaara got a letter from Sune that said it was her last letter since she would arrive back in the village in one week during the evening from when the letter had been dated and sent. The letter was sent one week ago now. All of Sune's belonging had already been moved from the Kazekage building to the manor. Today one of the guest rooms was being prepared for her parents.

Gaara was pacing around his office while neglecting his work until the time he, his siblings, and Cholandra would go to the village gates to wait on Sune's arrival. Sune's cat, Bo, was on Gaara's desk also pacing around as he followed and watched the young Kazekage.

Gaara told himself to be calm and patient before he turned to look at the clock. Still eight more hours until her arrival. He dropped his head as he sighed impatiently and sat back in his chair to do at least a little work. He went through only a couple mission reports before he noticed Bo get up from his napping place on the desk looking up curiously with his ears perked. Bo got up and ran to the door as it opened and leapt into Sune's arms.

Gaara stared at Sune as she cuddled the happy Bo. She looked at him and stepped into the room, leaving the door open behind her as she always would and smiled warmly, "Hello Stranger." Gaara realized that he hadn't even moved since she entered and he stood up so quickly that his chair fell backwards. She laughed softly as he looked back at the chair and quickly put it back. "Aren't you going to greet me?" Sune asked after letting Bo go and opening her arms to him.

He got the clue, "You're early," he stated as went around his desk to her.

"I wanted to surprise you," Sune said before he hugged her and she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He purposely smelled her hair to make sure it was really her before letting go. "Welcome back," he said.

"Thanks, I'm glad to be back," she smiled. Sune then noticed that Gaara changed over the last six months. First of all he was actually smiling, and not just for a brief second at a time. She also noticed how much he grew as her head was tilted up more than she remembered. "You got taller!" she exclaimed.

Gaara blinked confused for a moment, "I guess a little," he said, not minding since he had always been kind of short. "You've grown as well," he noted. She turned away blushing. It was true, she had a slightly fuller figure with longer hair, wider hips that made her waist and legs look slimmer, and what was left of her childhood roundness was gone giving her a leaner and more womanly face. Gaara laughed softly at her embarrassment and wrapped his arms around her shoulders pulling her back against him, "I did not mean to embarrass you, I meant you look beautiful," he said, "Again, welcome back, you were missed."

She turned around so she could hug him again. "I missed you too," she said about to kiss him until Bo meowed next to them, she laughed, "And you too," she said to Bo. "I missed everyone."

Kankuro stepped into the room, "Gaara, there's a meet-" he stopped looking at Sune as she let go of Gaara and he grinned, "Hey you're back!" he exclaimed, "The trip back must have been pretty mild to make it back so soon."

Sune shrugged and smiled, "I kinda rushed ahead," Sune blushed. "My parents will be here soon."

"There is a guest room prepared for them at the manor," Gaara told her.

"Oh yeah, I forgot that it was finished," Sune said, "I can't wait to see it."

Temari's voice was then heard from the hallway, "Kankuro, I thought you were going to get Gaara, and Cholandra is here!" she yelled before stepping into the room with Cholandra right behind her.

This is about when the shrieks and screams of excitement and greeting from all three girls began. Gaara and Kankuro covered their ears and cringed unable to bare the high pitched voices of their sister and girlfriends. It became even worse as Raven and Suki showed up and added to the noise. Gaara could swear that those two were screaming just for the heck of it as they disappeared again as soon as it stopped.

After the greetings and hugs were finished, Sune's parents arrived and she introduced them to everyone. Sune's mother practically jumped on Gaara in order to hug him as he just stood there stiffly with a surprised expression.

"Mom! You promised not do that, you're scaring him!" Sune said to her mother as she pulled away from the still shocked Kazekage and laughed and apologized. Gaara was expecting a handshake at the most like her father soon did.

After a little talking, Gaara said that he had to leave for a short meeting with a couple other council members. Temari offered to show them the house and their rooms as well as give them a tour until Gaara returned. Before Gaara left he used his sand to teleport their luggage to the manor before disappearing himself. Kankuro went with Cholandra to take her back to the academy.

~~~ Kazekage Manor ~~~

As they stood outside waiting to open the gates leading to the front courtyard Sune could hardly believe that she was going to be living at such a nice place. The house had a large entry way and she could see an office right next to it before she was led up stairs after getting her bags that were already next to the stairs waiting. Temari pointed out her own room if they needed anything, as well as Kankuro's room and Shikamaru's room for when he was visiting. They continued down the hall and past many doorways that seemed to just be unoccupied rooms until she pointed out Gaara's room a few doors from where they were standing and then led Sune's parents into a room before leading Sune into the room next that one.

Sune stood silently in awe before setting her bags down and placing her purse on the small table next to the door and then exploring the spacious room. The floor was wooden with patterned rugs around the room. One bigger rug was under a somewhat large canopy bed that had many pillows and matching luxurious white and pastel purple sheets and white bed curtains. Another medium rug was in a sitting area that had a couple cushy chairs and a coffee table that already had a vase of purple crocus flowers, her favorite, and a small note hanging from them saying 'Welcome home, from Gaara'. Sune stopped to smell the flowers before continuing to look around the room. A long rug was in front of the wardrobe and mirror, and it extended so it was also in front of the doors to her closet and bathroom. There was a desk in one corner of the room that was turned so when she sat behind it she would be facing the rest of the room. To the side of the bed near one of the nightstands was the same vanity that was in her room in the Kazekage building. There was also the small television she had got for herself with the same stand that had wheels so she could move it around anywhere in the room. The windows were tall with long flowing curtains that also hung in front of the glass doors leading to a balcony outside the room.

Deciding to go outside later, Sune moved towards the bathroom. The bathroom had marble-looking counters with a clean white vessel sink and a long tall mirror along the wall of the counter. The walk-in shower had tinted obscured glass sliding doors for privacy. Along the far wall of the bathroom was a raised section of floor with a couple steps leading up onto it and a large tub was built into the platform, much like an in ground bathtub. The platform included a toiletry/linen closet already stocked with toilet paper and fresh towels. As Sune left the bathroom, after using it since she needed to go anyway, she made note that the laundry hamper was also in there and she found another one in the walk in closet. The wardrobe next to the closet mostly held her ninja gear while the closet itself had the nicer clothes she left behind already hung up or sorted into drawers.

Figuring that Sune had plenty of time, she started to put away her things. She put her diary in the desk drawer, her clothes in the closet, her medical books on the shelves near the desk, and put her toiletries in the bathroom. After she emptied her bags she put them in the back of closet and found a box of the other smaller items she left behind. It had things like pictures, mementoes, medical items, various cosmetics, and other random things. She took out some of the pictures and placed them around the room and even put her cosmetics and medical items away before deciding to leave the rest in the box in the closet.

After that Sune was standing the middle of the spacious room. One thought popped into her head so she looked around to make sure nobody was watching then she giggled to herself before running and jumping on the bed and hopped on it a few times before letting herself fall onto it and sink into the fluffy comforter and sheets. "I can't believe this is my room!" she laughed rolling around on the bed.

"I'm glad you like it," Temari laughed from the doorway making Sune jump.

After Sune finished blushing she stood up, "Did you pick out all this stuff?" Sune asked.

"Nope," Temari said, "Gaara did."

"Really?" Sune asked looking around again, the room was bright and eloquent. "No way," Sune said in disbelief.

"No really," Temari reassured. "In fact once the house was finished being built, he took care of most of the furnishing, all out of his own pocket too."

Then Sune's parents came in and asked Sune if she was ready for the tour. With that they left to see the rest of the house. All of which impressed Sune and her parents, mainly with the living room, bonus/wreck room, dining room, and kitchen. Then they stopped and sat back in the living room to talk while they waited for Gaara to return.

"So Temari," Sune started, "When is Shikamaru going to visit again?"

"I dunno yet, I'm going to visit in Konoha next," Temari shrugged.

"When?" Sune asked.

"Whenever Shikamaru's duties lighten up again, that might not be for a while," Temari explained.

Kankuro then came in and sat next to Sune. "Hey everyone, so what do you think of the place?" he asked.

"It's really nice," Sune smiled. "Where's Gaara?"

"He'll be here soon," he said just before Gaara appeared with his sand.

"Hey," Sune greeted going to him.

"Did you get settled in?" he asked.

"Yes," she nodded. "I put my things away as well."

"Do you like your room?" he asked.

"Sure do, it's fit for a princess," Sune smiled. "And thank you, I hope you didn't go out of your way though."

He blinked, "Nothing is out of the way for you, you deserve to be treated like a princess."

"You're just saying that," she crossed her arms but still smiled.

"I would not lie to you," he reminded.

"And if you did I would find out," she put her hands on her hips to teasingly threaten him.

"Ahem," Kankuro exaggerated to get their attention. "If you two are done flirting, I believe it's almost time to eat."

"That's right," Temari added, "Would you like to help cook Sune?"

"Of course, come on Mom, you're helping too," Sune agreed and her mother followed leaving the guys to themselves.

"Sooo…" Kankuro started nervously trying to start some conversation, but nothing happened.

Gaara stood up, "I have to get changed," he said leaving the room and leaving Kankuro alone with Sune's father. It was silent until he returned only a few minutes later and it continued to stay silent as Gaara simply picked up a newspaper from the table to read. Kankuro looked at Gaara, reading, then he looked at Sune's father, also reading, finally he looked at the clock and realized it was time to get Cholandra and left hurriedly to get away from the awkward silence.

In the kitchen, the girls were enjoying some girl talk. Temari asked Sune if she had kissed Gaara yet since she got back. Sune told her that they were about to once but got interrupted before asking why she wanted to know.

"Oh, well about a month ago I got Gaara and Kankuro a bunch of hygiene cosmetic guy stuff and I wanted to see if you noticed if he was using them," Temari explained.

Sune shook her head indicating that she didn't notice, "What kind of stuff?"

"Let see," Temari started trying to remember. "Just some cologne, chap stick, shaving stuff, that shower moisturizer stuff, and mints," she said. "I think Kankuro ate all the mints already and Gaara put his in his office."

"What a good idea, I should have done that a long time ago," Sune's mother said. The girls laughed.

~~~ Later ~~~

At dinner there was much more talking and chatter with everyone there enjoying the meal. Afterwards Temari said she would clean up and then head back to the Kazekage building to finish up some work she left behind earlier.

"Gaara?" Sune started.

"Hn?"

"Could we watch a movie or something? I haven't vegged out in front of a television in months."

"Of course, in fact I thought you might have wanted to do that so Kankuro and I picked up some movies for you to pick from."

Sune picked a new adventure movie and pulled Gaara over to a loveseat to cuddle even though he kept scooting away from her until he realized what she was doing. Cholandra cuddled with Kankuro in a reclining chair he claimed as theirs, while Sune's parents got the couch.

By the end of the movie Sune had fallen asleep, it was still early to go to bed but she had an eventful day to tire her. A little bit after the movie ended Gaara carried her upstairs and to her room with her father following silently. He set her down on her bed carefully and pulled a blanket over her before stepping away.

"I remember doing that when she was little," her father reminisced. "She always insisted on staying up with me and her mother to help us work."

"She likes helping people, especially the people she cares about," Gaara noted as he wondered where her father was going with this. Gaara looked over to Sune as she stirred slightly in her sleep. "Is there something you would like to speak with me about?" he asked her father, he already knew the answer and what it was about.

He nodded, "You know, I spent hours racking my brain trying to figure out something I could say to you, a threat of some sort that you would acknowledge and understand concerning your relationship with my daughter," he said as Gaara listened silently. "Finally I decided to keep it plain and simple since you probably already thought this." It was quiet before he continued, "In your position I understand there is a lot of potential danger, just don't let Sune get hurt."

"I understand," Gaara said. "As the Kazekage I am in a position of power, power that others may want or see destroyed. If someone wanted to get to me, Sune would become a prime target. I will protect her with my life to keep something like that from happening to her."

"That's not the only thing," her father added making Gaara look at him questioningly. "To keep her from being hurt, you have to protect your own life as well. If you died I don't know how she'd be able handle that."

"Of course," Gaara said quietly.

"Oh and uh, don't break her heart, and keep your hands to yourself young man," her father then laughed.

Gaara smirked, "Right," he said before they left the room.

The door latched and Sune opened her eyes, she heard the whole thing. "Don't worry, I can protect myself too," she said, "But something tells me that you already know that Gaara." 


	30. Mission? Nah, Summer Break in Suna!

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 30**

**Mission? Nah, Summer Break in Suna!**

It was a warm midsummer morning in the Hidden Sand as Sune got out of bed and turned on her shower to bathe and start the day. She had been assigned a teaching position at the academy, but since school has been let out for the summer break, she doesn't start until after that. Her job is going to be basic medical for the younger students once a week, and then higher level medical two other grade's classes every other day. For now she was spending her time going over everything she learned when she left the Sand Village for her training, and putting together a teaching plan and assignments for the students. When she wasn't doing that or spending time with Gaara and the others, she trained to keep her ninja abilities keen.

Soon Sune stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself before moving to the mirror above the sink to brush and blow-dry her hair. She stopped and looked in the mirror as she touched the red love symbol just below the left side of her collar bone. It hadn't even been a full day since she got it.

~~~ The Night Before ~~~

Gaara and Sune went out on a date and they ended on the roof of the Kazekage building just like their first actual date. They were quiet as she hugged him around the waist and he had an arm around her and they looked out over the village together. Sune soon turned her attention to him and found herself examining his face, mainly the kanji on his forehead. "Does your love kanji still have meaning to you?" she asked curious, breaking the silence.

"It does," he said touching the spot while still looking over the village.

"Oh…" she said sadly.

"But it is different now," he said looking at her and she looked up at him stunned.

"Oh…" she blushed understanding. They were quiet again for a sort time, "C-can I have one t-too?" she asked shyly.

"You can, if you really want to," Gaara said.

Sune nodded, "I want one," she confirmed. "Then it can be something we share… and everyone will know that you're not up for grabs," she laughed softly.

He smirked, "Since you put it that way, I guess I have no choice," he said pulling away to stand in front of her. "Where would you like to have it? Choose carefully, it is permanent."

Sune thought about all the possibilities before one place stood out to her the most, "Here," she pointed to the spot. It was below the left side of her collar bone.

"Okay, it might hurt a bit and bleed for a minute, so be ready," he told her as she moved the top of her shirt over, since it was already low cut, she just made sure the space was clear. She then nodded for him to continue before a small amount of sand glided to her and rested on the spot.

~~~ End of flashback ~~~

Sune finished in the bathroom and got dressed before going down for breakfast. She ate alone since Gaara and Kankuro had to leave early this morning to go to an important set of meetings with other leaders, saying they had to go to a secure location at the southern most location of the eastern boarder where the meetings are being held. Temari mentioned that she would be leaving too after she finished a few duties in the village and at the northern outpost. After she leaves as well, they won't return for several days in order to complete the agreements.

Sune spent her morning doing some light stretching before bathing Bo and tidying up the house. Just before noon, Temari returned and started gathering her things. "Sune, pack your things, you're coming too," Temari ordered.

"What?" Sune blinked in confusion.

"Oh, and I ran into Cholandra on my way here," Temari started while Sune stood silently and confused. "We started talking and we decided that since the guys are going to be in meetings anyway, we can relax at the beach. So pack your thing we're going on vacation!"

"Oh okay…" Sune said still confused as she left the room. Only seconds later, Sune ran back in, "Wait! The beach!" she exclaimed. "He went to the beach… WITHOUT ME!"

Temari nodded, "Yeah, those guys don't see anything fun about the beach and didn't even think to ask, that's why you're both coming with me."

Sune thought about it and could just imagine what the guys would say about it if she asked.

_Kankuro would say, "What? Not hot and sunny enough at home for you?"_

_Gaara would say, "There is already a lot of sand here…"_

Sune sighed and shook her head. "You have a point…They're completely clueless sometimes," she said before a thought came to mind, "Wait, am I even allowed to go? I mean isn't it suppose to be a secure location?"

"Sure it's okay, as long as people stay out of the meeting rooms, don't ask questions, and don't blurt out who you're there with, it should be fine," Temari said before pulling out two bathing suits from her closet and asked which to take with her. "Since I know you and Cholandra don't have swimsuits, we'll have to get you one," Temari grinned holding up a credit card indicating that she found where Gaara was hiding it again.

~~~ The next morning: At the beach ~~~

"That meeting was LONG!" Kankuro groaned as he stretched his back and continued walking.

Gaara sighed as he walked beside him even though he agreed. "Do you still need help finding whatever it is that you were wanting?" he asked remembering a conversation they had on their way here.

"Oh yeah, I heard that this place sells some of the best!" he grinned running ahead of Gaara to stand in front of him.

"Best what?" Gaara asked his brother.

Kankuro looked both ways and leaned in to whisper, "Engagement rings."

Gaara looked at him surprised, "You are going to ask her to marry you?"

"Uh-huh," Kankuro nodded. "But not right away, she still has to turn eighteen, but after that and when the moment is right… I'll do it," he said confidently. Gaara let a small smile creep to his features.

Once in the shop they were looking for, Kankuro spent the next half-hour with the sales woman trying to pick out a ring. Kankuro knew he wanted a ring, but didn't know anything about the cuts or qualities to pick from. He scratched his head while looking at a few as Gaara stood near by and yawned.

Through the corner of his eye Gaara could swear that he saw Sune walk past the window. He quickly looked outside and saw no trace of her through the window. He thought it was possible to have seen a woman that looked like her. He stepped towards the door to inspect but was stopped by the sales woman.

"Your turn," she said to Gaara.

He turned back around, "Huh?"

"Are you trying to find a ring too?" she asked kindly.

Gaara stuttered for a moment as he looked over her shoulder to see Kankuro trying to decided between two styles of rings.

"If you're not looking for an engagement ring, I'm sure we can find something else for your significant other," the woman smiled.

"I don't-" Gaara tried before Kankuro interrupted.

"How about you get Sune a necklace or something, make it one nice souvenir."

Before Gaara could say anything else, the sales woman was showing him all kinds of jewelry from necklaces, rings and bracelets for both hands and feet, earrings, and even a couple tiaras. It was another hour before they both found what they wanted.

~~~ Meanwhile ~~~

After the meeting, Temari went back to the hotel lobby to wait for her brothers since they needed to do something, she didn't know what since she hadn't really spoken to them yet. She didn't even have the chance to tell them that Sune and Cholandra were here too.

It was only five minutes of waiting before a familiar face stepped through the door. Temari watched him from the sofa by a window as he strolled up to the front desk and turned to lean against the counter and saw her.

"Hey," Shikamaru smirked, "I thought you'd be here."

"Can't say the same about you," she also smirked. After a little bit of talking she learned that the people from Konoha that are coming are just him from his team, Lee from team Gai, team 7, and Hinata and Kiba from team 8 would arrive soon with Tsunade and Shizune.

"Wow, that's a lot of people."

Shikamaru sighed, "Yeah well, I think some of them are just here to hang out at the beach. I won't be surprised if even more people show up later. Seriously why was a place like this chosen?"

Temari laughed, "Know what you mean, my brother's girlfriends are here, but they don't know yet."

Shikamaru nodded and was about to say something before Lee burst through the door, "I win!" Lee exclaimed with his arms in the air before Naruto stormed in behind him and put his hands on his knees panting. After some shouting, and being yelled at to be quiet, Naruto and Lee ran off to put everyone's things in their assigned rooms.

"This is going to be a long trip…" Shikamaru sighed. "At least you're here."

Temari smiled and blushed slightly, "Yeah."

~~~ Meanwhile ~~~

Sune and Cholandra were relaxing on the beach as there wasn't much of a crowd. Though, the number of people around steadily grew as ninja were off duty and family of the other leaders tagged along, much like they themselves did. That didn't count the group of fan boys pampering Raven and Suki as they relaxed on the beach now that their duties were done. They had to arrive a few days earlier to make sure everything was set up, ready, and secure.

Before they had hit the beach, Sune and Cholandra went to the nearby shopping center. Sune got some sandals and a pair of swim-shorts for Gaara, they were dark red with red-orange flames on the legs. Cholandra got a book and a magazine to read when she sunbathed.

Sune was glad they both found swimsuits they liked, hers was a light purple halter with a matching wrap while Cholandra's was white. While sunbathing herself, Sune applied more suntan lotion while Cholandra set down her book and adjusted her hair. "Be glad Gaara-sama isn't here at the moment," Cholandra laughed as Sune put down the bottle.

"Huh? Why?" Sune asked and Cholandra nodded in the direction for her to look. There was a small group of river shinobi that looked away as she turned. "Oh I see," Sune blushed as she turned back to face her friend.

Cholandra giggled before adjusting her glasses and standing up, "Are you ready to head back? I'm getting kind of hungry and the guys might be there by now."

"I agree, let's go," Sune said standing up so they could walk back to the hotel together. Sune and Cholandra shared a room with two beds and Temari had a similar room to herself. They stopped at their room first, and each of them quickly slipped on cover-up tube dresses over their swimsuits before heading up to the next floor to find the guys' door.

"Do you think they're back yet?" Cholandra asked as they stepped up to the door.

"I don't know, let's see," she said before knocking on the door. No answer. "I guess not," Sune said before unlocking the door with the extra key from Temari. Stepping in, they confirmed that it was unoccupied at the moment. Sune could see Gaara's bag and Kazekage hat on one of the beds so she placed the shorts she got for him on top.

"Think they might be in another meeting already?" Cholandra asked.

Sune shrugged before she thought she sensed something and went to the door again. She quickly rounded the corner back into the hallway before running into someone or something making it topple over as she squealed and landed on it in the process. Sune sat up with swirled eyes and hoped she didn't just knock over an employee. She shook her head and muttered an apology before looking down to see Gaara pushing himself up with his hands to sit up while looking at her shocked.

"Sune? What are you doing here?" he asked her.

She grinned, "Thought you could go to the beach without me huh?"

He was about to ask what she was talking about before Cholandra peeked her head out from inside the room, "Sune are you alright? I heard you scream just now," she asked before seeing Gaara underneath Sune.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, I always run into Gaara, literally" Sune laughed before hearing footsteps coming from behind Gaara. She looked over as Gaara looked behind him to see Kankuro.

Kankuro looked at them before smirking, "Geez, get a room you two." Sune realized how she was straddling Gaara and she jumped up blushing as he simply stood back up, not really understanding the situation and wouldn't until some pondering later.

After they stood up, Cholandra went and hugged her boyfriend, "Surprise?" she said shyly.

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting you to be here," Kankuro grinned. "But since you are, wanna go take a look around?" he offered as she smiled and nodded before the two left.

Sune turned to Gaara, "So how was the meeting?" she asked.

"Long, and it will be even longer tomorrow with even more people there, and all of them wanting things done their way," he explained before taking her hand and leading her into the room. "What's this?" he asked seeing the shorts Sune bought sitting on top of his bag.

"They're swim-shorts, even if we have to stay here an extra day, you have to go on the beach with me," she laughed and he nodded setting the shorts aside.

"Did you get them in the shopping center earlier?" he asked and she nodded. "I knew I saw you," he muttered as he pulled off his robes.

"Oh? Why were you in the shopping center?" she asked and he froze momentarily.

"Kankuro wanted to get something," he said and he stealthy hid the small package he had got into his bag to keep her from seeing it yet as he pulled out a shirt.

"Get what?" she asked and he shrugged before pulling off his shirt and replaced it with the other one and also put on a jacket much like his trench coat. She watched him and forgot that he didn't answer the question.

"Are you hungry?" he asked her before commanding his sand gourd to him as he fastened his vest and kunai pouch.

"Yeah… Um what are you doing?" she asked as be fastened another kunai.

"No weapons are allowed in the meeting rooms, can't even have them at the door before you go in," he explained before standing up, "Are you ready?" he asked.

~~~ Later ~~~

Soon they were sitting across from each other in a dinner-like place that seemed to be the place to be with so many other people showing up. "Hey Gaara look," Sune said pointing behind him, "It's Mitsui, the leader of Kunoichi village." Gaara looked momentarily before nodding to Sune and telling her that many leaders are present like the Raikage with his assistants sitting just a few tables over. The Hokage, Tsunade, then came through the door with her trusty assistant Shizune. Behind them was Naruto and Hinata who saw him almost immediately.

"Hey Gaara!" Naruto greeted loudly and waved his arms in the air making sure everyone saw him. Naruto and Hinata joined them at their table so Gaara moved from his seat across from Sune to the one next to her, allowing the others to sit next to each other. "So how you been?" Naruto said after he sat down and put an arm around Hinata.

"Alright," Gaara said taking Sune's hand under the table. "I did not think there would be so many leaders in the same place since the Kage Summit a few months ago."

Naruto's smile faded momentarily, "Yeah, I know what you mean," he said. "Things have been changing so much lately that the higher ups need to get together and figure some things out sooner or later."

"To keep the peace, as delicate as it is," Hinata added.

"Be glad the whole deal with Sasuke is over," Naruto informed.

"I read the report," Gaara started, "But it did not give any information other than that he is no longer a missing nin. Was he killed?"

"Nah," Naruto started, "Almost though, he's too stubborn to die, in fact he's here with the rest of team 7."

Sune watched Gaara glare darkly as he squeezed her hand, "Isn't that dangerous? To bring someone of his background to such a place where he could cause a lot of damage?" he questioned.

"That's what Sai said… and a lot of other people too," Naruto said. "But his chakra is sealed and he can't even use his sharingan, in fact sometimes I swear he can't even see at all," he finished looking up at the ceiling thinking. "Anyway, Sakura is always with him along with Sai most of the time… they just stare at each other though…"

After eating the four of them headed back to the hotel. As they walked Hinata noticed Gaara and Sune holding hands. "It sure has been a long time Sune," Hinata smiled, "Congratulations by the way."

Sune and Naruto blinked, "For what?" they both asked. Gaara was confused as well. Hinata smiled and pointed at their hands.

"EH!" Naruto exclaimed as he leaned over and closely inspected the pair of hands with their fingers laced together, only moments later he grinned and stood back up. "I knew you two would get together, congrats," he said.

Sune smiled and nodded, "Are you two going steady?" she asked already knowing the answer.

Naruto grinned and took Hinata's hand, "That's right, we love each other very much."

Hinata then blushed furiously, "Na-Naruto…"

Once inside the hotel Naruto turned to them, "I heard it's going to be like a summer break beach party tomorrow after the meetings. See you there." He then waved and headed inside.

"A party sounds fun, doesn't it Gaara?" Sune asked him.

"I guess…" he said desolately.

"Aw com'on Gaara… Just think of this as a vacation while the meetings aren't in session, everyone else seems to be doing that."

"They should be thinking of this as a high ranking mission," Gaara told her.

"Mission?" Kankuro voice said from behind him. "Yeah sure, I doubt everyone here is going to go for that. Seriously, with so much political tension, what better way to relax and chill out?"

Gaara looked at Sune who was smirking and had her arms crossed, very aware that she had won. "Shut up," Gaara pouted slightly as he turned and went inside.

~~~ Later ~~~

The next afternoon, Sune and Cholandra were on the beach playing beach volleyball against Raven and Suki. The pair of blonde-haired kunoichi were obviously winning. It was now Sune's turn to serve the ball when Cholandra stopped her, "Hey they're here!" she called out and waved one hand in the air to make sure Gaara and Kankuro saw her. Sune looked and sure enough they were there, looking for them, so she joined Cholandra in waving them over. As the guys saw them they teleported over to them but then stopped dead in their tracks as they gaped at their girlfriend's partly clothed bodies.

"How was the meeting?" Sune asked, noticing that Gaara was wearing the shorts she got him.

"Long…" Was all Gaara said as he continued gaping even as Raven and Suki came to Sune.

"We're leaving now, I promised someone I'd meet up with them," Raven said before leaving.

"Me too," Suki added. "Have fun!" she then waved and ran off.

Cholandra turned to the guys, "Would you like to take their place in our game?" she asked.

"Yeah! What a good idea Cholandra!" Sune smiled.

Kankuro stopped gaping and laughed, "Sure, it would be a great way to blow off some steam after that meeting, what do you say Gaara?"

"Uh, I don't know," he said, he had never played volleyball before.

"Aw come on Gaara," Sune smiled, "Come play with me and enjoy the sunshine!"

Gaara blushed before stepping close to her to speak quietly, "What about… um… your clothes?" he asked embarrassed and she looked at him confused so he tried again, "Shouldn't you put something on?"

"What are you talking about? I'm already wearing my bathing suit," she said confused. Seriously, she has seen ninja wearing less.

After him trying to get her to cover up with his coat, she began fake crying saying that he doesn't like body or her choice is beach attire. He foolishly tried to reassure her that she has a nice body and he wouldn't mind seeing more of her. He slapped his own forehead realizing what just came out of his mouth and finally agreed to play with her as Kankuro snickered under his breath and the girls tried to cover up their own laughter.

After playing boys verses girls until Kankuro and Sune switched sides and they played couples for a while. Neither side kept any kind of score and once they decided to call it quits, Sune dragged Gaara to the water wanting to go swimming. He protested but quickly gave in after she kissed him and stood very close with big puppy dog eyes.

She pulled him with her so they were only about ankle deep in the water and starting kicking water at him while laughing as he just tried to block. Soon he started splashing her back and they had a water fight.

Once she was tired, she really only has half the stamina he does, she laid on the wet sand on the beach to catch her breath as the gentle waves washed over her legs. Gaara sat next to her waiting for her breath normally again.

"Know something I haven't done in a long time," Sune asked pushing her fingers into the wet sand beside her. Gaara looked at her, "Make sandcastles," she smiled.

Sune sat up in the sand and started piling it up to make a sandcastle. Just as she started on her forth column of sand she heard sand moving around and look over at Gaara and saw him controlling the sand and making a perfect mini-Kazekage building.

"This is my sandcastle," he said before laying down to watch the sky.

Sune stared shocked before laughing playfully, really finding it funny, "You're right, it is your sandcastle, isn't it?"

After a short while, they decided it was time to relax. They found Temari and Shikamaru in some lounge chairs, Shikamaru was sleeping, and obviously had been for a while as he was burned pretty bad now.

"Shouldn't you have woken him up?" Sune asked Temari who was lounging with a magazine.

Temari looked at them over the top of her sunglasses, "I told him to put on some sunscreen, but he pushed it off as a woman's nagging, so he has to learn the hard way," she sighed.

They both sighed as if expecting something like that so they left and got a drink before returning and choosing a place to sit on a blanket Sune brought with her, they went near Temari and the still sleeping Shikamaru. Sune took a drink from her cup and laid down on her stomach. Gaara looked over at Shikamaru, and seeing how red his skin was turning from the sun, he formed an umbrella out of beach sand to shade himself and Sune before opening up a notebook he brought with him.

~~~ Later ~~~

It wasn't long before Sune woke up, realizing that she had fallen asleep, she looked back to Gaara who hadn't moved from his position. In fact, he seem more than a little tense as he sat perfectly still with his eyes narrowed in a warningly glare. He did not seem to notice her movement as she crawled on her hands and knees the short distance across the blanket to him. Still not acknowledging her, she knew that he was in deep thought so she plopped herself in his lap and kissed the top of his eye. Whatever he was staring at was now blocked from his sight because of her body.

"What's wrong?" she asked brushing the hair out of his face.

He shook his head, "Maybe a lot, maybe nothing."

She sighed disappointed, but didn't want to go digging around in his mind to fine out, "Gaara…" she warned. He simply gave her a 'what?' look. "Gaara, there's something bothering you, tell me so I don't have to find out by force."

He shank under her gaze, _~'When did she get scarier than me?'~. _"I am just keeping an eye on somebody I battled a long time ago, the fight was unresolved and you never know when it might finish."

Sune looked around in the direction Gaara was staring before and saw a group for people they know from Konoha. She recognized all of them but one out of the group. He was tall, dark haired, and emo looking. "That guy?" she asked pointing.

"Uchiha…" he said lowly as if cursing. After she asked, he told her the story of their first Chunin exam and then not long after how he became a missing nin and caused a lot of problems, but apparently now he's got his act together and has his chakra sealed so he can't cause much harm if intended. "And you should stay away from him since…" he started but then realized that she was already walking away and straight towards them.

"Hey everyone!" Sune smiled and then was greeted. She went straight up to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Hi Sune, how have you been?" Sakura smiled, "I heard you were away training."

"That's right, even though I had to be away from Suna for so long, it was worth everything I've learned and how I've improved."

"You missed Gaara?" Sakura winked.

Sune nodded, "Of course, we stayed in touch though," she said before realizing that Gaara was standing beside her, she would scold him for being sneaky later. "How about you? How have you been?" she asked Sakura.

"Lately I've been pretty good," Sakura smiled as she reached for Sasuke's hand before she and Sune realized that the guys were not paying attention to anything other than their glaring match. The girls looked at each other for some idea of what to do.

Sasuke spoke still not breaking eye contact, "What's wrong, afraid I might steal your woman?" he taunted, emotionless.

Gaara stayed silent and continued to glare. Sune looked at him, she knew there are reasons he didn't like Sasuke in the past, but now just after that remark, she had reason not to like him either.

Nearby Naruto saw what was going on and before anything could break out, he raced over, "Hey Gaara!" he greeted, "What's up, see you met Sasuke… or re-met him," he tried before grabbing Sai. "This is Sai, oh wait, you've already met… Say hi Sai," Naruto grinned nervously, everyone knew what he was trying to do. Sai stood dumbfounded holding up a paintbrush and a pallet knife as he was just interrupted from painting. "Say something Sai," Naruto whispered.

"Um…" Sai started, "I'm torn between nicknames for Sasuke, what do you think about Homo or Sasgay?"

"Not that!" Naruto yelled with his arms waving frantically.

"But I thought those names would suit better in public than the ones that have to do with his pen-"

"Sai!" Both Naruto and Sakura shouted at him. Naruto than pushed Sai back to his painting. But that's not where the madness ended, not at all, as Lee joined.

Lee went on about youth and love and tears of joy, and then more youth and love concerning Gaara and Sune's relationship as well as Naruto and Hinata's and Sasuke and Sakura's. Then told them about his own romance, in a youthful manor of course.

"Hey anyone want to race me back to the hotel?" Lee asked excited even as everyone shrank away from his offer. You'd have to be an idiot to race Lee, he was more than an energizer bunny. "Oh I know, instead we can all go on a youthful and bonding run along the beach!" Lee looked around to find that everyone but Naruto disappeared, "I did not realize everyone was so eager to start running," Lee blinked and turned to Naruto who smiled nervously and sweat dropped.

"I uh…" Naruto thought for a moment, "I have to go find Kakashi," he said as be backed away and then disappeared as well.

~~~ Later ~~~

A few hours later, after they ate, Gaara and Sune went to their rooms. Gaara mentioned that he was going to go to bed early since he had to get up very early for another conference. Sune walked down the hallway still blushing as she thought about their goodnight kiss back in the lobby. She quickly found hers and Cholandra's room and stood before it as rummaged through her purse for the key. Upon entering she found Cholandra already in the room, but making-out with her boyfriend, Kankuro, on what was suppose to be her bed. It took them a second to realize Sune was standing there looking at the ceiling. They apologized and she apologized for interrupting and decided that instead of kicking him out and having to use THAT bed, she quickly grabbed her luggage bag and told them that she would see them tomorrow.

"Was that Sune?" Cholandra squinted trying to see without her glasses, "I hope I didn't upset her."

After trying Temari's room, which seemed to empty and she didn't have a key, Sune found Gaara's room on the next floor and knocked on the door. Gaara opened the door and obviously wasn't expecting to see her, "Sune?"

"Hey, Kankuro and Cholandra are in my room and-" he cut her off by raising one hand.

"No need to explain, come in," he said almost like an order.

She smiled and stepped in as he closed and locked the door again behind her. "You don't have to worry about me staying in here, do you know when Temari is getting back?" she asked.

"In a couple hours," he told her, "But can stay here if you need to, I just locked Kankuro out."

Sune nodded understanding but told him that she was still going to try to share with Temari so he could sleep undisturbed. She saw Kankuro's luggage bag on one of the beds and practically threw it on the floor at the end of the bed to set her bag on it before she turned to Gaara. He gave a nod of approval before informing her that he was going to shower and get ready for bed. As he closed the bathroom door behind him she took the opportunity to change from her swimsuit and cover-up tube dress to her underwear and sleep clothes which were, because of the summer heat, a tank top and matching hot pants.

Sitting on the bed, she looked around the smallish yet nice room before finding the remote to the television sitting on the nightstand next to her. After turning it on, she could no longer hear the shower running as she put the channel on a random sitcom and helped herself to a bottled water from the mini-fridge. Soon Gaara came back in dressed in a sleeveless shirt and sweatpants. He lounged on his bed and watched TV with her for awhile before getting under the covers and going to sleep.

It was still a while before Sune could go see if Temari was back yet and even a few hours before she would go to sleep anyway. She decided to pass the time by tending to her own hygiene and beauty care. First by taking a warm bath while shaving her legs, and since she will still be walking around on the beach in a bathing suit or shorts, there was no getting away with only going to the knee. She even remembered to apply some lotion afterwards. Though the task took longer in the bath than it would in the shower, she thought it might be quieter and she didn't want to risk waking the occupant of the room. Afterwards she brushed and flossed her teeth real good before toweling her hair as dry as she could and running her brush through it to make it virtually tangle free. She then used an acne swab on her face and down to her collar bone to better her chances of keeping a clear complexion.

Dressed again in her sleep clothes, she sat on the other bed and painted her toenails a pastel purple. After cleaning up the nail polish that was on her skin around her toenails, she laid on her back waving her feet a little bit to make the nail polish dry faster. Sune sighed realizing that she wasn't tired at all and it was still another half hour before she would check on Temari. She looked over at Gaara. He was laying on his back with his face turned away from her. She was bored now and she didn't want to turn on the TV and wake Gaara up. She sighed and looked at him again before an idea popped into her head. The next thing she knew, she was sitting over Gaara's legs, facing his feet, and pulling the sheets away from his feet while holding a bottle of "Akatsuki Purple" nail polish. That had to be a masculine color, so he wouldn't mind… hopefully. After putting a light layer on each toe she would blow on it to make it dry faster. Every once in awhile he would stir in his sleep or his foot would twitch and some sand would rise in reaction, but other than that she was completely undisturbed from her task.

~~~ Later ~~~

Early the next morning as it was time for Gaara to wake up, he noticed something poking at his arm with a great deal of force. Assuming the worse he snapped his eyes opened but found it was simply Sune poking him in order to wake him. He looked over at the alarm clock that was suppose to go off one minute ago, he assumed that Sune turned it off to wake him herself. "Sune?" he started before clearing his throat of grogginess, "Why are you up so early? Did you stay here last night?"

"Turns out that Temari remembered that she had to get up early too so she came back sooner than planned so I used the extra bed in her room, after I painted her fingernails," she smiled at the last part remembering that she painted his toenails and he has not looked at his feet yet.

"You did not have to get up so early too."

She smiled and shrugged as she sat down next to him, "Not going to see you again until this afternoon, right?" she asked and he nodded but did not make a move to get up. "Aren't you going to say good morning?" she finally asked with a small smile. He raised a nonexistent eyebrow. "Fine, I'll say it…" she said as she rolled towards him and supported herself on her knees right next to him, resting her forearms on him, she placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to give him one heck of a good morning kiss.

Expecting a kiss, he accepted it, but his eyes widened as the kiss deepened and her tongue slid into his mouth. Without realizing it his eyes closed again and his tongue met hers as they caressed each other between their lips. Both of his hands slid up her soft and smooth legs and over her rear as they found her back and wrapped his arms around her pulling her against him.

They played tongue hockey for a bit before she pulled away and he said something inaudible with his face flushed and swirled-eyes. Still blushing herself, she laughed, "I love you too." She really wasn't sure what he said but her response seemed to make him happy anyway as he came back to his senses and sat up to peck her lips and then the kanji just below her collar bone. In exchange she kissed the one on his forehead before standing up, "You should get up, don't want to be late."

Within a minute Gaara sat down on the edge of the bed and reached for his shoes, the moment he saw his feet he looked surprised then looked over to Sune who looked at the ceiling and played with her fingers, he shrugged it off and continued to get ready. Gaara was out the door in only a few minutes and as he closed the door behind him, Sune could hear both Temari's and Kankuro's voices and they greeted their brother in the hallway.

Still sleepy, Sune crawled into the still warm bed to rest a little longer before she got up and got ready to go get breakfast with Cholandra. The night before she left her bag in this room just in case Temari wasn't back so she wouldn't have to carry it around. After getting dressed in shorts and a tank top she found that she didn't bother to bring a jacket not thinking that she would need one at the beach. But now it was a cloudy and chilly morning and she wanted one. The obvious answer was to borrow one and she thought herself lucking to be standing in her boyfriend's room as she opened up his bag and looked for the regular jacket he was wearing earlier that was like his trench.

"Haha!" she exclaimed pulling it out but something else came out and hit the floor with a rattle. Still holding the jacket she searched for the item which was within arms reach under the bed. She picked it up and looked at what turned out to be a small black box. "Oh. My. Gosh…" Sune said aloud, pretty sure there was a ring inside. _~'Okay, calm down, it might not even be his… He could be holding it for Kankuro since he's going to propose to Cholandra someday.'~_ She only knew that because of her telepathy. _~'Besides, this can't be an engagement ring for me, we're too young to get engaged… What if it's earrings? He knows I like earrings.'~_

Sune set the box down and stared at it before giving into temptation and grabbing it again to open it. She stared breathless at what she was inside, she knew what it was upon seeing it. It was a promise ring. Her fingers traced the outline of the small box's lid as she told herself to close it. In the end she denied herself and picked up the ring, slowly inspecting it. It was fairly simple being a silver band with a love kanji centered on the outside that seemed to shimmer in the light more than the rest of the ring and on each side of the kanji were a small jewel imbedded in the ring. Inside had both their names engraved along with the word 'promised'.

There was a knock at the door that made Sune nearly jump out of skin before she hurried to put the ring back in its box the way she found it and tossed it back into Gaara's bag as she turned to the door, "It's open," she called and tried to calm her racing heart.

It was Cholandra and Sune breathed a sigh of relief. "Hey Sune are you ready… Is something wrong?"

Sune shook her head as she put on the jacket she had been holding, "No, I'll tell you about it at breakfast," she said holding back a smile as she walked to the door.

Cholandra nodded, "And I'm really sorry about last night, we kind of got caught up in the moment for a little while there…" she blushed.

"Forget about it," Sune smiled, "It's a beach vacation, you deserve summer romance," she laughed as they walked through the hotel lobby.

"What about you and Gaara?"

Sune blushed, "We're both kind of shy when it comes to that stuff but he likes just kissing."

"Could he like it because you might be a good kisser?" Cholandra laughed making Sune blush.

"I don't know…" Sune turned redder the more she thought about it. "But Gaara is going to do something romantic soon, I'll tell you about it in a bit," she whispered and Cholandra nodded.

~~~ Later ~~~

It wasn't until late afternoon that the final meeting finally ended. Many of the leaders were going to leave right away. If Sune hadn't shown up, Gaara would be leaving now as well. He decided that they would leave first thing in the morning. Soon he stepped into the hotel lobby with his brother and found Sune and Cholandra talking to each other. The girls saw them and greeted them.

Since it was the last the day they were going to be here, the girls planned to go to the spa and now were waiting for Temari to return with her brothers. Upon seeing Gaara, Sune had to resist the urge to glomp him. She had been thinking and talking about how he might give the ring to her.

Kankuro had greeted both of them and informed that Temari said she was going to meet the girls at the spa because she's probably saying goodbye to Shikamaru first. Sune nodded and asked Gaara if he was coming with them to relax and stuff. Gaara shook his head and told her that was going to go over some papers to make sure none of the agreements screwed over the village somehow.

Cholandra asked if Kankuro was going to come along but he said it was girl stuff before telling them to have fun and leaving to hang out elsewhere.

Gaara stepped up to Sune so he could speak to just her, "You're coming to my room when you're done?" he asked and she blushed and nodded. He nodded back to her and left so she and Cholandra could meet up with Temari at the spa.

~~~ Later ~~~

That evening the three girls walked back to the hotel smiling and each had their own fan as they waved themselves some cool air. "It got so hot since this morning!" Sune breathed remembering how cool it was.

"I can tell what's hotter," Temari grinned, "Those massage guys back in the spa!" The girls squealed things that no one would be able to understand. "Did you see Sune's guy?"

Sune blushed, wondering if they noticed what she had.

"He had the same hair as Gaara?" Cholandra guessed.

Temari grinned, "Yep, he was a tall, tan version of my brother!" They continued to talk and laugh until they walked into the hotel lobby and had to go their separate ways to their rooms. Sune had told them about her plans with Gaara so they wished her good luck and that she would get the ring this evening.

She walked silently, holding the jacket she took from Gaara's bag as she made her way to his room. She knocked on the door but there was no answer so she tried again with the same result. Since he was expecting her, she tried to let herself in. Luckily the door was unlocked and she stepped inside but found no trace of him. She laid the jacket down on the end of the bed and sat down next to it to wait. After only a few moments, she realized the balcony door was opened so she stepped outside to find the table set for two, but no Gaara. Stepping up to the railing she looked out over the beach and water where the moonlight reflected off its surface. It was dark besides some illumination along the beach where people were out, the light from the room coming through the door behind her, and the lantern by the table.

Sune found herself staring at the stars until she felt his presence, or he let his presence known. "I can't hide anything from you, can I?" he asked rhetorically and quietly into her ear from behind making her jump before she turned around and looked at him questioningly. "You must have been in a hurry… you forgot to close the box."

She understood immediately and turned around again, "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking for anything like that," she said ashamed.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug, "I know, and I am not mad," he said and she watched his arm reach around her as he set the same small black box from before on the railing in front of her. "Go ahead," he urged. She touched the small box carefully, she didn't know why though. Slowly she opened to find the ring, not hiding her smile. "Would you stay with me? Promise ourselves to each other until a proper proposal when we are older?" he asked, she could hear his voice shake slightly with the fear of being rejected.

She didn't even have to think about her answer, "Of course, you don't even need to ask," she said before turning around and pecking his lips, still holding the box and ring, "I have this tattoo from you, remember? Also remember that I'm staying by your side, you're stuck with me."

Gaara smirked, she had said he's stuck with her so many times now. "I thought a ring would be a little more traditional, you deserve nice things." He then took the box from her and removed the ring before taking her hand and slipping it on her finger. "Do… do you like it?" he asked quietly.

She giggled, "More than like, I love it," she said before they exchanged 'I love yous' and kissed.

A minute later he reluctantly pulled away, "The food is getting cold," he told her.

Her stomach gurgled making her blush for a second, "Right, let's eat."

Throughout the meal, between talking, Sune would look at the ring and imagine what it will be like when he proposes marriage and she has diamond on her finger. After a while she decided she would think about the here and now, and how she's happy now. The plan was to go home first thing in the morning and Sune couldn't wait to show her mom and tell her about the trip.

~~~ Elsewhere ~~~

"Ah, this was great," Raven sighed.

Suki agreed, "Too bad we have to leave tomorrow, I don't want to leave him…" she sighed thinking about her summer romance. "Maybe we could ask the guys if they want to come home with us!" Suki had her hands on the sides of her blushing face.

"Maybe they'll surprise us and go to Suna! They have our address," Raven suggested hopefully. "By the way, do you feel like we forgot something in the village?" she asked thinking.

Suki thought, "Um… nope, nothing," she said and Raven shrugged.

~~~ Sunagakure ~~~

Yoshiko had been alone in the village without any jobs assigned to him by his supervisors, Raven and Suki, since they seemed to disappear without saying anything. At first he thought he was given a couple days off which he used to meet a couple girls. But when they didn't come for him, he went to the Kazekage building to find that it was unusually quiet and the secretary told him that all information was classified, especially to him. "Maybe they were abducted by aliens…" he wondered, "Which means… I'm next…" he said looking around fearfully. "Seriously though, where is everyone!"


	31. Suspicious Activity: Gaara's Gone?

**Angle Clair**

**Chapter 31**

**Suspicious Activity: Gaara's Gone!**

It was now one year later from the mass peace conferences at the beach, Sune went through her first year of teaching medicine at the academy and recently turned seventeen. Gaara would turn eighteen in about five months. Sune had only been on a handful of actual missions in the last year, but she also did some special tutoring for a couple students on weekends and during the breaks while classes were out. Summer break was just about over and classes would begin again in only a couple weeks.

Raven and Suki mentioned that they will leave the village someday soon and go home with their loves now that they feel their debt is nearly repaid. They told Sune that if she needed something after they left that they would come and help as soon as possible. For now, they are still around and working as they normally would.

After Yoshiko's probation was up, he decided to stay in Sunagakure as an active shinobi. He is almost always away on missions now that he's a Chunin. When he is in the village, he spends his time training and is really starting to earn the other ninja's approval and respect.

Temari is currently living with her fiancé, Shikamaru, in Konoha where she is also acting as a representative of Suna as well as planning their wedding. After the wedding, she and Shikamaru would live in the Sand Village for about three months out of the year. Temari still kept up with her family and Sune and Cholandra, who she has been calling her soul sisters and sister-in-laws, even though Sune isn't an in-law.

Kankuro and Cholandra just got married and are on their honeymoon, once they return they will officially be moved out of the Kazekage's manor and into the place next door, which was still pretty nice. They are going to return from their honeymoon a few days before the academy's classes started again so Cholandra didn't have to miss work at the beginning of the school year.

With everyone away, Gaara and Sune are enjoying having the house all to themselves. It was actually quiet, especially when Gaara wasn't there either, but Sune still has her cat, Bo, to keep her company. Now she was making dinner for two and was hoping to finish by the time Gaara got home for their date night. She used her new telepathy technique to tell him that dinner is almost ready.

She waited until he mentally responded, "Okay, I'm on my way…"

About six months ago is when she found that she could use her telepathy to actually communicate with people. Her aunt had said that when Sune became old enough she would suddenly be able to do it. Sune can't do it over very long distances without being drained rapidly of chakra yet, but she was working on it. The next morning they planned to get up early and train together on various things before he goes to the office.

Gaara appeared with his sand behind her and embraced her suddenly, she was surprised but didn't react since she knew it would be him. She greeted and kissed him passionately before telling him to change, wash up, and get out of her way in the kitchen so she could finish cooking. He quickly left after giving Bo a quick rub on the head.

Soon they were eating in the living room quietly and Sune told Gaara that she just got a letter from her parents saying that they planned to arrive in the village in the next couple days.

"Good, I would like to talk to them," Gaara said.

"About what?" she asked, she assumed it was for a job within the village.

"A job request," he said, making her think her assumption was correct. After they ate, the plan was to watch a new movie while relaxing on the couch. They ended up starting the movie and ignored the television completely because they started making out, both secretly enjoying the fact that there was no one around to disturb them for once.

The next morning they trained together in the courtyard of the manor. He was helping her test the strength of her newest jutsu, the Glass Shield. He had to admit that it was pretty strong, not like his sand shield, but the advantage over his is that it can withstand liquids and is nearly invisible. Gaara has become much better at controlling wet sand compared to how he use to be, but he still felt he has a ways to go before it's no longer a problem.

While they took a short break, a council member came through the gate and approached Gaara to inform him that a meeting had been called. For some reason the man gave Sune the creeps. She watched Gaara nod before he stepped over to her and whispered, "I have to go… and stay away from him as best you can, I do not trust him." Sune nodded, she was glad it wasn't just her picking up on the bad vibes, but she knew there had to be more to it than that as she watched them leave.

As Gaara walked to the Kazekage building the council member followed next to him, "What is this about, Yuuto?" Gaara asked, more like ordered.

"About your future, Gaara-sama, we are all deeply interested in your plans," he smiled. Gaara doubted that was the real reason. "Oh look, there is my daughter, I would like you to meet her," Yuuto said still smiling and greeted the girl. "Misaki, I don't believe you have met the Kazekage in person, Gaara-sama this is my wonderful daughter Misaki," Yuuto introduced them.

Misaki was short, at least a couple years younger than Gaara, had short pink hair up in pigtails, and her eyes were innocent like a small child. "It's such an honor to meet you in person, Kazekage-sama!" she smiled.

Gaara nodded in greeting. He approved of her so far, she seemed nice enough. "Excuse me," Gaara said before stepping away from Yuuto and disappearing in sand.

Gaara hadn't appeared in the Kazekage building but really teleported himself up the street to watch Yuuto and his daughter Misaki. He was displeased by what he saw. Yuuto seemed to be scolding her about making a bad first impression as she kept her head down and apologized. He disappeared into his sand again the moment the 'conversation' ended.

The meeting ended up being really pointless as it really was about Gaara having to get married and what they would expect from that woman. He took it as the council is starting to show sudden disapproval of Sune and he wondered why this was coming up now of all times. It didn't help that he doesn't have Kankuro and Temari keeping an eye on things as well, then maybe he would know what was going on already.

"You've been seeing young Ichinarwa-san for sometime now, correct?" an elder asked. Gaara nodded, thinking that someone was finally bringing up that he already has a serious relationship. He was wrong. The same elder suggested that he try seeing some other girls for awhile to learn what he really wants and likes in a woman so he can find the most suitable wife.

Gaara looked at him like he was crazy, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

Another council member assured him that they already have a few girls in mind. The man continued to explain that they could set him up with each one of them for a single date. Yuuto's daughter, Misaki, was mentioned.

"What a coincidence that they met each other just before this meeting," Yuuto said.

Gaara could see that they were wanting him to marry someone within the ranks all of a sudden, but he still couldn't' tell where all this was coming from. For now he couldn't stand the idea. What about Sune? He also couldn't stand the idea of Yuuto, or someone like him, being his father-in-law under any circumstances. Gaara already liked Sune's parents and was even warming up to calling Sune's mom, Mom, as well. Even if he did agree to go on a one date with each of these girls, he would be too busy thinking about Sune, surely she wouldn't be too happy about such a request from the elders and the rest of the council.

Gaara voices his thoughts, "This is ridicules, what is wrong with Sune?" he looked around slowly as a few of them tried to say that they just want him to broaden his horizons, try a variety of girls, and find true love. Gaara just about rolled his eyes. "I know what this is about and it is not about love at all, I am not going to put those girls through some sort of trail! I am not going to put my girlfriend through this and I am not going to put myself through this."

"At least consider it after you have thought about it a little more before you dismiss the idea entirely," a few said at once, almost as if rehearsed. Gaara got the urge to simply cover their mouths with sand, if not suffocate them entirely. Oh, how he would've liked to do just that at the moment.

Gaara stood up, and everyone went silent. "This meeting is over," he said before walking away. As he went through the halls he was sure that if Kankuro and Temari were here, they wouldn't have let such a meeting take place from the beginning. He was sure that was why whoever was behind this in the council waited until now, while it was easier to get what he wanted to say, said. Gaara went into his office and slammed the door behind him making Raven and Suki peek their heads out from their office room to see what was going on. The two blonde kunoichi looked at each other and shrugged before going back to work.

It was many hours later before Gaara realized how late it was already. As if on cue, Raven and Suki opened the door to his office, the first people he has seen all day since the meeting. "We're leaving now, it's getting late," they informed him and he nodded. He stood up after they closed the door. He hoped Sune wasn't going to be mad at him, there was really no reason for him staying so late today. Most of the day he had thought about what the council had said, but really, what was he going to say to Sune when she asks about the meeting.

Gaara returned to the manor only to find that Sune was not present. He even sent his sand eye through the place to quickly check each of the rooms for her and all he found was Bo sleeping on her bed.

Only moments later the door opened behind him and Sune stepped in, "Oh hey Gaara, sorry I'm late, Yumi and I lost track of time, she is making wonderful progress, you'll definitely have to consider her as a medical nin." Sune took off her shoes and hugged him, "Are you hungry? There's leftovers from last night," she offered. He visibly perked up at the thought of the food, it was extremely good. She laughed softly, "I take that look as a yes." Sune said before making her way to the kitchen.

Gaara followed her into the kitchen, he knows how to use a microwave after all and doesn't want her to do everything for him all the time. Both their plates were prepared in minutes and Sune handed him his.

"Where would you be without me?" she joked. Saying that caused him to remember the events from earlier in the day. She quickly picked up on his dreary mood, "Just kidding, I know you can take care of yourself," she tried as she walked with him to the living room.

"I know, sorry, I was just thinking about the meeting today," he told her truthfully.

"Oh is something about it bothering you?" she asked after sitting down on the couch next to him. He shrugged, not really wanting to walk about it as he started eating. "Was it just the same old stuff that goes on?"

He shrugged again, "Pointless is more like it." They continued eating silently.

"So they called a sudden 'pointless' meeting?" Sune asked after awhile. He didn't answer. "How can it be pointless? I mean unless they just want to say hello and that made you upset, then I don't really understand." She did think about using her telepathy to see the memory, but she really didn't want to do that to someone she loves and trusts.

Turned out that she didn't need to use it after all as he finished eating and leaned back on the couch and gave a quick summary of what the elders and council proposed.

"So they want you to go on a date with a few other girls?" she asked indifferently and he nodded, showing how displeased he was with the idea. "I think I get that," she said and he looked at her shocked. "Even my parents suggested that I do something like that once when I dated Yoshiko way back, only because they were worried that I might just be going for the first nice guy that came along, that kind of thing."

"I doubt they are worried about that," Gaara protested. "They are just hoping to get one of their own in this family, probably thinking that they would have more say in what goes on in the village and how I run the shinobi forces."

"Then they should know that you're not going to suddenly fall in love with someone else, in fact you'd probably come home and love me even more after meeting them. Trust me, when I was working in the hospital, I met the daughters of higher ranks that are even near our age, and even they annoyed me. If they bother you about it again, you can just say fine, and if you're worried about me being jealous-"

"It won't stop at just one date," Gaara snapped, irritated that Sune was being so understanding of the people that wanted to get her away from him. "For some reason, someone wants you out of the way…"

There was a long silence that seem to scold both of them for speaking at all. Sune was quiet as she felt herself wanting to cry. She had thought about it before, but pushed it away thinking that it wouldn't be a problem. What if the village did not really approve of her being with the Kazekage, thought that she was not good enough, or strong enough, or someone that could not even be in that position?

Gaara didn't need telepathy to know what she was thinking. He had thought about it too, but until now, the council had completely approved of Sune. He looked away as she wiped her eyes to rid of the tears that threatened to leak.

She blinked the rest away. "I should go to bed…" Sune said quietly and stood up. She got to the top of the stairs and was about to continue walking before she felt a pair of arms wrapped around her. "Gaara, I'm okay, I'm not mad, really," she tried before he turned her around and lifted her chin to meet her eyes.

"I love you," he said with emphasis on the 'you'. She simply hugged him unable to speak without wanting to cry again. "Tomorrow, I will call the council and tell they them that we discussed it and then tell them exactly where to shove their proposal." Sune choked back a small laugh before giving him a small kiss and going to bed.

~~~ Later ~~~

_Sune was looking at Gaara, he seemed to be laying down, as all she could see was white around them. The chakra around them was dull. She felt faint and could feel herself sitting down and looking at her hands, they looked dirty. Looking back up she saw Gaara looking at her before his eyes closed slowly._

Sune's dream caused her to wake up early the next morning so she got up and went downstairs still wearing a long silky white nightgown. As she walked past the living room about to go to the kitchen she noticed a pair of feet hanging over the end of the couch. As she detoured into the living room, she confirmed it was Gaara, sleeping on the couch with one arm behind his head and the other still holding a book on his chest. Sune smiled thinking how it would be silly if he had it on his face before taking the book and setting it on the coffee table. Just as she was about to stand up straight again, Gaara took her hips pulled her into his lap.

"I thought you were going to bed," he said resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I did, then I slept for awhile, and now it's morning," she told him.

"Hn…" he said before laying back down as she stood up.

"Don't' go back to sleep, it's time to get up," she told him. He looked at her and reluctantly got up with a slight pout on his face as he headed for the stairs. "Where are you going?" she called, hoping he wasn't planning on just getting back into his own bed.

"I have to change," he called back.

Sune went to the kitchen and cleaned the dishes from the night before. She then got dressed in a white sundress before heading back down to start cutting up some fruit for breakfast. Then an arm reached around her and took an apple, she just about cut off a finger before whipping around and waved the knife around as she scold Gaara for being sneaky. Gaara remained silent as he had sand stop her hand and he took the knife from her and sliced part of another apple to eat.

"Hey! I was using that!" she reached for the knife but he held it high above his head to keep her from having it. She huffed and tried to jump for it but he continued to keep it out of her reach as he ate the apple. "How do you keep getting taller? Stop growing!" she complained still trying to get the knife before he used sand to hold her hands above her head. Oh, but two can play at that game. She made a spark of lightening shoot from her hands that were still bound together. The spark hit the knife in Gaara's hand causing it to fly across the room before it hit the floor and slid until it stopped in front of a Genin that was assigned to be a messenger. He must have been let in by the guard. Gaara and Sune both looked at the boy as he stood timidly in the doorway.

"K-K-Kazekage-sama, S-Sune-sama," the boy stuttered before he hurried to bow respectfully and turned his attention to Gaara, who had released Sune's hands. Through a lot of stuttering the boy managed to tell Gaara that there was a delivery at the Kazekage building, it was a personal order that Gaara had been waiting for. The boy had quickly bowed again before quickly leaving and Gaara turned to Sune.

"Guess I am leaving early today," he said, "It should not take me long to tell off the council so I should be back in a few hours at the most. Meet in the courtyard, same time?" Sune nodded and he disappeared in his sand as she had a strange anxious feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Sune went about her day, doing various tasks as she let her thoughts wander. During Gaara's break, he would often train and eat with Sune before she left to tutor a student. The events from last night came to her mind but she cleared her thoughts of that before thinking about this morning. She thought about the messenger Genin, poor kid, he seemed too shy to be assigned that job. If memory served correct, both his teammates were injured from training. What really stood out to her though was the fact he used such formalities towards her, she never once thought of herself as being 'Sune-sama', she would have thought nothing of it if he called her 'san', but the 'sama' seemed to put her a level of respect and authority matching Gaara's. _~'Heh, take that stupid council… stick to your job and realize that the village is just fine with me being with Gaara.'~ _As for the delivery Gaara had to attend to, Sune was pretty sure it was a puppet part that Kankuro has been waiting weeks for.

Soon Sune was thinking about Gaara and the dream she had that night. She could only barely remember it now, but she still had a bad feeling. The feeling was becoming harder to ignore and she thought it was time to meditate and completely clear her mind. Then maybe she could find a source or relief to her worry. She went outside and sat down on her knees in the courtyard, the gentle cool breeze would help her relax.

_Gaara was laying before her seemly asleep until she realized she was standing in the hospital and he was being treated. She looked down at him, he was pale and he was obviously low on chakra. Feeling faint herself she sat down and saw her hands, they were covered in blood, sand, and something else that she didn't recognize. The hem of her dress was tattered and she couldn't even tell which dress she was wearing. Looking up she saw Gaara looking at her before his eyes closed again and his breath released._

"Sune-sensei," a girl's voice called out, bringing Sune out of her meditation to see the young talented student, Yumi. Sune was still sitting on her knees, her white dress still clean and proper. Yumi watched Sune look at her confused and surprised to see her. "I'm sorry, were you using your mind thing to talk to Gaara-sama? I didn't mean to interrupt," she said sincerely.

"No, I'm not sure what just happened," Sune said. It was like she was in a dream that she still couldn't remember clearly now, but she did remember the blood. "I think I just was daydreaming," she said ignoring the worried feeling in her stomach. "You're early," she commented.

Yumi shook her head, "I thought I was a little late," she said looking at her watch, "It's almost two."

"What!" Sune exclaimed, she hadn't realized she was meditating so long. Sune then brought her hand to her forehead in sudden realization, "Oh no…" she muttered. Yumi looked at her questioningly. "Something's wrong, Gaara didn't come."

Yumi looked at her, "You were in a pretty deep meditation, maybe he did but you didn't notice," she suggested.

"Hold on," Sune said and closed her eyes as she began to locate him. She opened and closed them again. "Yumi, you should go home," Sune said before running off. She couldn't find Gaara, if she couldn't find him, that meant he was not in the village. She hoped someone knew where he was in the Kazekage building and that her dream was not really a vision. Visions of the future or visions of what could possibly happen, either way, it wasn't good. Sune could hardly believe that her abilities had progress so far if it was indeed a vision.

Once inside the Kazekage building she asked the people who would surly know, Raven and Suki. But they told her that he left a couple hours ago. She then went into his office and searched his desk, looking for some kind of note, mission report, or notice that might indicate where he was. Only after asking a secretary, Sune learned that the last she saw of him was when he stepped out the front doors but from there he would usually teleport elsewhere.

Sune didn't have much choice other then to start walking home. She clutched the small gourd of sand she wore on a chain around her neck. It had been a long time since she felt this helpless and useless. As she walked she rounded a corner and bumped into someone. She looked up happy ready to see Gaara standing before her, but the moment she saw the blue hair, her smile faded as she looked at Yoshiko.

"I'm sorry Sune, I wasn't watching…" Yoshiko started before he looked at her concerned. "Are you okay? You look like you're about to cry." He was afraid he might have just injured her.

Sune bit her lip, he just had to say it, didn't he? "I can't find Gaara…" she told him, though she didn't know why, she knew she didn't have to tell him anything.

"He left the village a while ago, seemed to be in a hurry too," Yoshiko said and she looked at him surprised. "There was a girl with him so I assume there was some sort of emergency, probably at one of the outposts, did you hear that a some of them are starting to collapse recently?" he was doing his nervous habit again where he talks a lot.

"Wait what?" Sune exclaimed. Yoshiko just shifted nervously, he wasn't really sure what all he just said or what part of what he said she was asking about. "He left the village with a girl? Who?"

"I think it was Misaki-san, she's the daughter of Yuuto-sama of the village council," he explained.

She briefly wondered how he knew that. "And you said that there have been problems at the outposts lately?" she asked with a hint of relief in her voice. Turns out that Gaara isn't in the village after all, no wonder she couldn't locate him. Yoshiko simply nodded before Sune spoke again, "Have you seen any medical teams leave too?"

"I haven't, and none would have gone unless someone has been hurt or killed, the more likely situation is that someone was captured and is being interrogated, but I haven't seen any other teams leave the village and I've been on guard duty all day at the village gates."

Sune thought about it as the anxious feeling was becoming stronger, she knew she had to do something. There was too many outposts for her to search on foot and if she searched mentally she would be drained of chakra before she was even finished. She looked up at Yoshiko who was obviously considering on walking away. "Yoshiko, can I ask you a favor?"

He blinked, "Uh, sure, what is it?"


	32. The Rightful Kazekage!

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 32**

**The Rightful Kazekage!**

The young Kazekage sat at his desk and looked over a few mission reports after the meeting. Two Jonin on the council did not show up to the meeting, one being Yuuto. The other Jonin, Daichi, was often gone and thought he didn't have to be bothered with anything. Gaara told the rest of the council his future plans for himself and that there was nothing they could do about it.

Gaara opened his desk drawer and pulled out the package that was delivered to his office. He kind of wished he didn't take priority over any other deliveries so he didn't have a messenger boy show up at his house first thing in the morning. He opened the package to find the item he had been waiting for. He grasped it in his hand before slipping into his vest for safe keeping.

When time for his break he left his office, let his secretary know he was leaving and stepped out the front doors as he normally would. He stopped and took a moment to look at the cloudless sky. Just as he was about to teleport with his sand, he heard a woman's voice call out to him.

"Kazekage-sama!" she called. Gaara turned to see Misaki run up to him before she stopped and tried to catch her breath. She was covered in dust and sand and her face was red while her eyes were full of tears. "It's my father," she managed to say as she could breath, "We were at the western outpost and got attacked, he told me I had to get out of there and come to you for help."

Gaara looked at her, "You ran all the way here?" he asked and she nodded. "Do you have enough energy to show me where you were attacked?" She might be too shaken up or worn out by now, but it was worth asking before running in blind.

Misaki straightened up with a look confidence in her eyes, "I may look fragile, but I can take you there, just please-"

"I will help you, now go," Gaara ordered. He knew that if they were attacked by a formidable enough enemy to take on Yuuto, then the battle could still be going. Things like this happen at the outposts often enough that Gaara knew that he could put an end to it quickly.

The two ran past the village gates where Yoshiko was on duty. Gaara saw Yoshiko jump to his feet expecting an order then look at them questioningly and then confused as he got none. Once outside the gates, Gaara told Misaki to stop just before he lifted the sand under their feet to create and flying platform. Misaki fell to her knees on the flying sand below her as they started speeding across the desert towards the western outpost. Misaki prayed that something bad didn't happen while she got help.

"We will be there in a matter of minutes," Gaara started, his voice making Misaki jump slightly. "Once we are, you need to show me where you were attacked, until then, can you tell me anything about the attacker?"

"I'm sorry Kazekage-sama, it all happened so fast the last thing I can really comprehend happening was Father telling me to run away and get you." Gaara nodded and said nothing for the rest of the sort travel.

When they arrived at the western outpost it was empty and quiet, nothing out of the ordinary so far. Gaara hoped this wouldn't take longer because of a game of ninja hide and seek. He lowered his sand platform and the two stepped off. Now standing on solid ground, he found that he still could not sense any movement on the surrounding sand.

"Are you sure this was the place?" he asked and Misaki nodded. Gaara looked around and touched a gray, normal sized gourd, tied to his belt at his hip. It was looking like he wouldn't need to use his new weapon after all since it seemed the battle was over and gone. Next he would have to call for an ANBU team to search the area and find out what happened. Gaara's thoughts were quickly interrupted by an echoing ominous laughter.

Misaki was frightened by it and instinctively moved closer to Gaara who became even more serious. There was still no movement on the surrounding sand of the outpost that Gaara could sense. How was this possible when there was surely someone else present?

The unknown voice echoed another laugh before speaking, "It seems my plan has worked out perfectly and the girl brought you here after all… Don't misunderstand, she had no idea she was being manipulated…" Slowly the voice's owner appeared from behind a building on a floating platform, dressed in Suna council robes with armor. It was not Yuuto as Gaara first suspected, it was in fact, Daichi, the other sand Jonin that was not present at today's meeting.

"That's him, the one who attacked father and I," Miskai said quietly so only Gaara could hear, she then looked around hopefully searching for her father.

Gaara glared, "Now a traitor, Daichi? Big mistake…" He then raised himself on another platform of sand.

"Surprised Kazekage?" Daichi grinned.

"…No."

Daichi became flustered and just about stepped off his platform. "W-Why not?" he demanded.

_~'You're stupid, arrogant, pompous, power hungry, greedy, and you smell bad…'~ _Gaara thought distastefully. "It was obvious that you were not to be trusted," he said in a low dark tone that caused Daishi to shake momentarily. _~'And here comes their life story and why they became how they are now… great, like I need to hear another one of those…'~ _Gaara thought sarcastically.

"You should have never became Kazekage!" Daichi spat from his floating platform. "I worked too hard to prove that I was capable enough for the job for years and even more so after the last Kazekage died, but as soon as you came into the picture as a possibility for the title, I was completely forgotten about while all you had to do was dominate everyone using fear!"

Gaara said nothing. Misaki wondered why he wasn't saying anything. She didn't remember it that way at all, and was about to speak up to tell Daichi that he was wrong before Daichi spoke again.

"It's true isn't it? Even you know that you have no right to be Kazekage!"

There was a long silence where no one even moved. Misaki was confused, she had no idea why this was happening.

"Is that all?" Gaara said plainly. "Is that all you wanted to do? Give me a piece of your mind? Now what? Are you going to kill me and then claim the title once you go back to village?"

Daichi said nothing as he seemed to be caught off guard by this question before he became enraged. No one, no one could insult him and get away with it. "Well… Why couldn't YOU just stay dead!"

"It was not my time, it seems to be my destiny to protect the ones I care about for awhile longer. My bonds could not be broken yet, not to my village, and not to the ones who have gone out of their way to care for me. You are one that could never understand those bonds."

Misaki looked at Gaara, the Kazekage, with surprise as well as admiration. Daichi gritted his teeth and prepared to attack with the full intent of putting Gaara in his grave with his body so butchered and unrecognizable that there will be no hope of revival. "Now is the time! Say goodbye to your bonds and DIE!" Daichi shouted furiously as he flew forward at Gaara.

Gaara remained still as Misaki quickly ran for cover to get out of the crossfire. Once she looked from her hiding place to see what was happening, Daichi was already bound by sand and he was foolishly struggling to break free. The pink-haired girl heard Gaara tell Daichi to surrender and his life will be spared. When Daichi looked like he was not going to comply the sand snaked around his entire body until only his face was visible. He was being given one more chance but he said nothing.

Misaki noticed a clicking sound. She looked around and then to Gaara who seemed to hear it too. Gaara glared darkly at Daichi, "You son of a-" Gaara started while getting on guard before there was a huge explosion. Misaki ducked and could feel the heat of powerful flames race past her skin, nearly burning her before sand flew up from the ground and shielded her from the harm that surely would have came to her.

Soon the sand around her fell and she could see that whatever kind of explosion that was caused the area to turn into a clearing. Parts the building and outer walls were still standing around the clearing. It was only moments before she realized that there was nothing in the clearing, no Kazekage or Daichi. The pink-haired girl briefly wondered if they both perished in the flames until Gaara came up out of the sand. The sand fell off him as he remained kneeling and surveyed the area. He too wondered if Daichi perished. Misaki noted that he seemed to be unharmed from what she could see, though he was still covered in sand.

"It seems things never go quite according to plan." Another voice sighed. Gaara whipped around to see Yuuto standing at the edge of the clearing and looking around. Gaara waited to see if the smiling Yuuto was friend or foe as he walked across the clearing, past Gaara, and to where Daichi was before the explosion. Yuuto swiftly plunged his arm into the loose sand and pulled up the dead body of Daichi. Daichi's head was completely burned and the ooze that seeped from various parts of his face and skull was collecting sand and dirt. Gaara knew that Daichi was a bomb specialist but was never stupid enough to get himself caught in one, let alone one he surly created. He was the one that figured out the composition of Deidara's clay bombs, though he never pursued recreating it. And now, will never be making anything ever again.

Yuuto sighed again and set down the body as Misaki ran to him, "Father! You're okay!"

"Stop!" Yuuto ordered his daughter and she stopped in her tracks. "Why are you here? I told you to get the Kazekage and stay safe!" he scolded.

"B-but Father…" Misaki whimpered quietly. Gaara watched her reactions closely again and did not like what he had seen. What was Yuuto going to do, was he a victim?

Yuuto sighed irritably, "It wasn't the plan for Daichi to die. Or for my dear Misaki to be here in potential danger." He scratched the back of his head and continued smiling as he normally would. "Misaki, leave, now." She did as she was ordered and quickly went past Gaara.

Gaara was on guard, "What are you up to?" he demanded after Misaki was out of sight.

"Same thing he was," Yuuto said plainly before Gaara gave him a questioningly look along with a glare. "That's why we met up and how we put together his scheme, the plan changed many times over the last few weeks, but now I'm on my own. Guess it works out though, after I'm done here, I'll be the honorable Kazekage like I was meant to be."

Gaara was getting tired of this crap already. A small part of him wanted to take his Kazekage hat and throw it at him while saying, 'Fine take the f***ing job and title, it'll give me more time to spend with my girlfriend since I'll get normal missions and no longer have people trying to take my position or have a desk with mountains of PAPERWORK!'. None of Gaara's thoughts showed through as he remained stoic.

"Don't get me wrong, as much as I think I deserve the title of Kazekage, I'd like to play it fair and battle you one-on-one in a match to the death or until one of us gives up. What do you think?"

Gaara was silent for a few moments as he slowly stood up from his place kneeing on the ground now realizing that he did not protect himself as quickly as he thought from the explosion. Some sort of debris had gone flying and he was sure he was cut somewhere on his side between the straps of his vest. He kept himself from looking to see how deep it was to hide the fact the he was injured while being challenged.

"Well? Are you going to except?" Yuuto asked.

"If I refuse?" Gaara asked, all while thinking that he could try to kill Yuuto now.

"Then I'll have to attack to keep you from going to the village and having a team arrest me."

"So I have no choice but to fight you," Gaara stated knowing that no matter what, he was going to fight the powerful Jonin before him.

Yuuto looked thoughtful for a moment, "I suppose it works out that way, but I still want a fair, honorable fight. How about we each start with one ninjutsu then if we're both still standing, use only one weapon and only taijutsu, may the best man win?"

"You mean?…"

"Yes, an Absolute Contend. That means winner takes all, whether the opponent is dead or still alive."

"…I accept," Gaara said. He knew the rules of the battle, the winner can choose the fate of not only the loser but they can choose the fate of the loser's family or even take all their possessions if they so desire. This kind of battle was rare because of that. And since now Gaara accepted, if by some chance he lost, there was nothing that could be done about Yuuto being Kazkeage even if he did not go through the process of the Jonin acceptance. "I assume you want the title of Kazekage if you win?"

"Yes, and what do you want if you win?"

Gaara thought for a moment, there wasn't really anything of Yuuto's he wanted, but the rules required one request. "Misaki-san," Gaara finally said, "If I win, she comes with me." Gaara finished by creating a tablet of sand with both requests and tossed it aside before crossing his arms, ready for battle.

"You want my daughter after all?"

"No," Gaara stated, "But while you are locked up or dead, as the Kazekage I will make sure she is taken care of."

"So you wouldn't benefit at all," Yuuto stated.

"You will be gone, that is benefit enough."

"Don't be so sure of yourself…" Yuuto finished getting into battle position and tossing a rock high into the air. It was silent as the wind picked up. Neither of them moved as they waited for the stone to hit the ground and they would each make their move.

~~~ The Village ~~~

Yoshiko blinked hardly believing that Sune was asking him for a favor. "Uh, sure, what is it?" he answered. He would never deny her a request anyway as he still felt he should repay her for causing her pain again. It wouldn't hurt to get on the Kazekage's good side either.

Now he was standing in the doorway of his apartment as he watched the purple-haired girl quickly take his spare kunai and strap it to her leg over the leggings she was wearing, but hidden under her dress. They had been standing just down the street of his building so she had requested to borrow a weapon and his assistance.

"What else do you need from me?" he asked as she left as quickly as she came.

"I want to find two other people who can help," she said as they left the building and stepped out onto the street.

"Did someone call?" Raven's voice said from nearby.

Sune looked at the two blonde-haired kunoichi, "This is great, you're just the people I need!"

"Raven and Suki, at your service!" Suki saluted. The kunoichi were always willing to help. Within only minutes the four of them were at the village gates, Sune explained all she could on the way.

Yoshiko looked to Sune after she explained the plan she had in mind. "So each one of us will go in a different direction and check the outposts all at same time? Then what's the plan if we do, or do not find them?" he asked.

Sune took a moment to think, "If you find them stay where you are, the rest will meet back in this spot and whoever isn't back after an hour, everyone else will follow that person to the outpost they were supposed to check. Does that sound good?"

Raven and Suki gave a thumbs up and Yoshiko nodded. "I think I have something that will help the search go a little faster," Suki said before biting her thumb, "Summoning Jutsu!" she called and placed her palm to the ground. After the smoke cleared, three large arctic foxes stood proudly before them. "Alright girls, you think you can me give my companions a ride?" (side note: the foxes are about Akamaru's size)

One of the foxes trotted to Sune and dipped its head between her legs and positioned her onto its back. "Be sure to hold on Purple-san," the fox said in a feminine voice. Sune nodded and looked over to see Suki hop onto one with a pink ribbon tied around its neck, while the last fox kneeled down so Yoshiko could get onto its back easier, he looked worried and uncomfortable. Sune then looked over to Raven questioningly. Raven noticed and smirked before biting her thumb and summoning a Leviathan creature that was blue and serpent-like. She hopped onto its back and hovered in the air nearby.

"I'll take the north," Raven informed before flying off.

"I'll take this way," Suki said before she and the pink ribboned fox headed east.

"I guess I'll go that way," Yoshiko said as the fox started running south.

"We're taking west, Purple-san," Sune's fox said before running in that direction.

"You can call me Sune," Sune said holding onto the fox's fur.

"Okay Sune, I'm Akahana, pleased to be of assistance." With that they started going faster and Sune realized that Suki wasn't kidding when she said it would be faster.

~~~ Outpost ~~~

Gaara quickly thought of which move he would use that had the best chance of defeating Yuuto before the battle could progress to the next stage. The stone hit the ground, signaling them to start. Before anyone would be able to blink, they were off.

"Great Fire Storm!" Yuuto called and fired off hand signs at lighting speeds.

"Desert Doom," Gaara said as sand flew from the gourd he always wore on his back. He wanted to end this quickly, he was sure he had been gone for awhile now and he remembered that he still had to meet with Sune, hopefully she wasn't worrying too much.

Within moments, the fire and sand collided between them. It was like two sideways tornadoes fighting against one another to make it to the opponent. The result of these two powerful attacks flying into one another were winds strong enough to blow any normal person off their feet. Long seconds past before both jutsu swirled around each other and got closer to the target. Sand flung from the spinning mass and cut the side of Yuuto's face. Before the jutsu could cancel each other out entirely Yuuto focused all he could, making the flames even hotter, so hot that they started to turn white.

The white flames were eating through Gaara's sand, and to keep them at bay and away from him, Gaara had to use all of his most powerful sand, causing his entire gourd to turn to defensive sand. The white fire was still getting dangerously close to Gaara and his sand armor was starting to melt off on one side of his face and chest wherever sparks touched.

Gaara took a couple steps back before he heard Yuuto holler as if he was in pain and the flames disappeared as the already weakening jutsu was disrupted. He saw Yuuto stumbling with his hands over his face.

"Looks like I figured something out just in time," Sune's voice said a short distance away. She was standing her ground and holding up a large plate of glass. "I knew I couldn't go anywhere near that jutsu but it looked like you were in trouble, so I used my glass to reflex the light from those weird flames and the sun right into his eyes." Gaara stared at her shocked. She had blinded Yuuto? She had just saved him?

The way she smiled at him and was dressed in white reminded him of an angel and he couldn't help but smile back. "How did you find?-"

"I had a feeling," Sune shrugged.

"Not that I am not glad to see you, but this is a formal challenge, outsiders are not allowed to intervene or else it is considered a forfeit," he told her and she looked worried, knowing that meant she might have caused him to lose the fight anyway.

Yuuto heard them and spoke up, "It's alright, she didn't know we declared an Absolute Contend, this battle is far from over," he said confidently, still rubbing at his eyes to get the bright splotches out of his vision. "Winning by forfeit isn't as honorable."

Gaara looked at Sune once again and nodded over the side of the clearing. She understood and got out of the way as he prepared and got into position for hand-to-hand combat. He waited for Yuuto to prepare himself, it would have been smarter to take him out while he couldn't see but he was bound by the rules of the challenge, which revolved around honestly and honor. Though putting countless hours of training in taijutsu and defense without any sand, it still wasn't a good position for him to be in. He looked over at Sune, she was fiddling with her fingers as she also thought about the situation.

Within moments they started. It was a good ten minutes of continuous fighting and neither of them landed a solid blow as they blocked and dodged. It was true, Gaara had improved much in both skill and speed and Yuuto was visibly having a hard time. Finally Gaara delivered the first solid blow to the tiring opponent, who seems to forget that he was not as young as he use to be. If there was one thing Gaara had besides his sand, it was stamina, he might be able to win on that note alone.

Gaara's confidence didn't last long as he felt a little light headed. Maybe it was caused from dehydration under the blazing sun or blood loss from the wound on his side from the earlier explosion. Either way, the brief lack of focus gave Yuuto an opening and he didn't hesitate to take it despite being in pain from Gaara's attacks.

Yuuto added some fire to his fists and pounded into Gaara's sand armor on one side of his face, chest, and gut. Both Gaara and Sune looked shocked as the sand crumbled off. Gaara cursed Yuuto for having a keen eye and striking in the places where the armor was already broken and weak from the white flames. He had to admit, it was a good move on his opponent's part. The Kazekage continued blocking, the light-headed feeling was getting gradually worse. Yuuto's fire fists were having little to no effect on Gaara's armor so he was aiming for the weaker, unprotected parts of his body.

The first opening in the Jonin's assault was taken and Gaara grabbed his arm and threw him to the ground face first, before holding onto his neck, forcing Yuuto to eat sand as he tried to struggle against the aggravated Kazekage who was also standing on one arm and using sand to hold down the other to prevent him from making hand signs. Gaara got the first taste of bloodlust in a long time as he watched the struggle. Yuuto then used a fire-substitution jutsu to get out before he was killed. Gaara jumped away from the flames and heard Sune scream. Gaara whipped around to see Yuuto holding Sune with a kunai to her throat as he threatened to kill her if Gaara didn't surrender. It was a low move, but their was no rule against using hostages, stupid rules, couldn't there be any useful, actually honorable ones?

"Give up or she dies!" Yuuto threatened. Gaara glared darkly. No one, NO ONE, can lay a finger his beloved angel and get away with it. Gaara was about to throw the rule book out the window and say screw honor to whip out the most deadly ninjutsu in his possession and destroy Yuuto. The only thing that stopped him was the most sadistic smirk that ever appeared on Sune's face.

"Ha! You wish!" Sune said before she spread her arms and long pointed glass flew out from behind her, going far beyond the length of her arms causing Yuuto to have no choice but to release her to get out of the away. Gaara stared at her surprised, the way the sunrays set on her features and reflected off the various pieces of glass from behind her made it look like she actually had wings, he could hardly believe what he was seeing. He was convinced that she might really be an angel, she was kind, good, gentle, dressed in white, and even had wings and a halo of light around her. Of course, he could be losing it, were clouds suppose to be moving side to side like that?

"I've chose my weapon!" Yuuto called as he held up a long metal spike and aimed at Gaara. The Kazekage thought the man was a fool, he could easily dodge that thing one way or another. Yuuto turned and threw it at Sune, who looked away for only a brief second as something caught her eye, it was the others making it to her destination.

The spike was flying at an amazing speed and Gaara barely had time to run to her while putting up a curtain shield of sand. Sune looked at Gaara, he had his head down as she stood in front of her. Her eyes went wide as she realized what was happening, and that neither Gaara nor the sand on the ground went fast enough to protect both of them as now the metal spike was imbedded in the one side of his chest where all the sand armor had broken off. Sune knew that the spike could have punctured his heart. By now the others had arrived and also stood shocked, including Yuuto.

Sune watched him as Gaara smirked and pulled the spike out of his chest, "Now that you have used your weapon, it's time for me to use mine," he said and pulled the cork of the small gray gourd that had been sitting idly at his hip. Gray sand flowed out of it. "It is Iron Sand," he said to Sune who was still getting over the shock of seeing him get stabbed but not get hurt. Quickly the metal spike was covered in this iron sand and joined with it.

Without moving, Gaara made the iron sand attack Yuuto. Cutting at his legs and arms first as Yuuto tried to block before the sand attached to his leg. "What!" Yuuto exclaimed and tried to use his fire on it, hoping it would have the same effect as it did the other sand but it didn't and his leg was crushed and he let out a pained scream. The sand retreated back to Gaara, he was breathing pretty hard now and Sune wondered if it was because the iron sand required way more chakra and focus.

"Father!" Misaki's voice cried out, but there wasn't a hint of worry in it. "I saw everything… How could you do such terrible things and betray the village, and for what? A stupid title?" With that she looked over to Gaara and shrugged apologetically. "I don't want to see you treat the village I love the same way you treat me, and most of all how you treated my mother…" Yuuto looked at his daughter as she confronted him when he was unable to move. He asked for forgiveness and for her to get some help. Misaki stood idle and did nothing. Yuuto, and Gaara for that matter; were shocked to see her disobeying him. He yelled at and scolded her but she simply glared at him. She shook her head with a couple tears leaking form her eyes, "Goodbye Father," she whimpered as she turned and ran back to the others and stood beside Yoshiko who was closest.

The sound of coughing was heard and they all looked at Gaara. There was blood on his hand and a little on his mouth. Yuuto chuckled despite his incredible pain, "That was the primary purpose of the bomb Daichi created. If the flames didn't kill you, blood will fill your lungs until you die. It was supposed to kick in sooner so I would have the upper hand but…" he cringed from his own pain.

Raven and Suki looked at one another, "Are you as tired of this guy as I am?" Suki asked.

"Very much so…" Raven agreed. They both had dark looks as they made sure justice was served in the most painful way possible. After Yuuto was finished and dead, Misaki started coughing violently, also coughing up blood as she just about passed out but Yoshiko caught before she fell.

"I'm Yoshiko, I'm here to help," he explained as she looked at him, seemly surprised.

"You're Yoshiko?" The pink-haired girl asked.

Yoshiko nodded, "Yeah."

Misaki had heard of him, but this isn't how she expected him to be, "But you're actually kind of cute…" She said without thinking and looked away hurriedly as she blushed before coughing up more blood and then passed out. Blushing himself, Yoshiko checked to see if she was still alive.

"She was here when the bomb went off," Gaara started, "Get her to the hospit-" he coughed roughly and Sune tried to help him as he kneeled to the ground and coughed up even more blood. The wound on his side complained painfully even more at his movements.

"Gaara?" Sune called to him as he started passing out, "You're going to be okay," she said as the green glow formed around her hands as she started to heal him as he lost conscience.


	33. Home Together

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 33**

**Home Together**

The moment everyone arrived in the village they went to the hospital. Just before leaving the outpost, Sune's parents had arrived. Apparently on their way to the village, they saw the explosion in the outpost from far away so they decided to check it out. Finding their own daughter at the scene, they got straight to work in helping Sune treat the injured people. They all decided it was best to leave the already dead bodies behind while Yoshiko went ahead and told the other guards and to get an AMBU squad to take care of the corpses.

Sune went into a hospital room with Gaara and her father who knew exactly what to do so she worked on cleaning up the blood after she did what she could with her healing jutsu. Sune's mother went with Misaki to treat her.

Gaara was put into private hospital room to be treated. Sune looked at him, he was pale from not being able to breath properly causing a lack of oxygen in his blood, and he was low on chakra. Feeling faint herself she sat down and saw her hands, they were covered in blood, sand, and even Gaara's iron sand. The hem of her dress was tattered because she ripped off some and used it to cover the wound on Gaara side in attempt to keep it from bleeding and to keep it clean while healing. Looking up she saw Gaara looking at her before his eyes closed again and his breath released.

Her vision came true. Sune almost thought he died before she saw him breathing normally, and her father sighed as he relaxed as he looked at her as he always would when he succeeded with a patient. After telling her that Gaara was okay now, he told her that it would be best if she washed up and got something to drink while Gaara rested.

Outside Sune saw her mother and her mother told her that she did a wonderful job healing both the Kazekage and Misaki and that they were lucky to have seen the explosion at the western outpost on their way to the village. Since there was nearly no delay in the treatment, they would make a full recovery. Sune was glad. She and her mother washed their hands together as well as their faces. Sune was even able to borrow a nurses uniform to change into. Sune turned to her mother, "Mom?"

"Hm?" she answered.

"I knew this was going to happen, that's the only reason why I was there at all, I had a vision of Gaara in the hospital."

"A vision? Sune that's remarkable!"

"Is that a part of my abilities? I mean Aunt Amarante said very little about predicting or seeing the future."

"Actually, my sister wasn't the only one with an ability. Very rarely, I would have a vision, and it would come true, in fact there is a couple I'm still waiting on to happen."

Sune was shocked to here this. "Really? How come I never heard about this?"

"Because up until recently I was calling it my intuition trying to tell me something in my sleep."

Sune was quiet as she thought about it. "So what kind of things are you waiting to come true?"

Her mother smiled coyly, "Just some things about you, my daughter." Her mother laughed softly.

"Like what?" Sune tried but her mother simply shrugged. Sune huffed and pouted still thinking about it, she could think of all sorts of things like her wedding, the name or gender of her first child, whatever it was it must be good judging by how her mother was smiling.

"You'll see Sune, mystery can be a good thing… like in a certain man?" she winked. "Who by the way shouldn't be waking up for at least another few hours because of the medicine, so come eat with me, there is so much we have to talk about." Sune nodded and followed her mother. It felt a little strange wearing the nurses uniform after such a long time since she worked here, but she didn't have the hat or tags so hopefully she won't be mistaken for an employee by someone who doesn't already know her. Sune shook her head at the thought.

~~~ Later ~~~

Gaara woke up in the private room a little confused. The last thing he remembered was seeing Sune. He sat up and realized that he was in the hospital and then began checking his bandages while wondering where all his shirts went. Soon the door opened and Sune's father entered.

"Good you're awake," he greeted. "It's late and Sune fell asleep." Gaara nodded in acknowledgement as he watched the older man go across the room and opened the closest. "Your clothes are in here," He pointed inside the closet so Gaara could see his clothing hung up inside before closing the door again after Gaara nodded.

The two were quiet as the older man sat in a chair and crossed his arms. "I appreciate your help," Gaara bowed his head down once in thanks.

"In all honesty, it was Sune that did most of the work with her medical ninjutsu," he explained. "If it wasn't for her immediate response, I would have had a hard time treating you and then you might not have been able to make a full recovery, same goes for the girl who had the same condition."

"I see, she said that she had a feeling where to locate me all the way to that outpost. Her telepathy is always full of surprises."

"Her mother told me she had a vision, my wife gets those too, they're rare but impressive," he said. Gaara nodded understanding, Sune never said she had visions before, but she always seemed to surprise him so he didn't think too much into it.

"She is remarkable," Gaara commented.

Sune's father agreed. "By the way, I heard you were stabbed with a spike of some sort, but when I checked for a wound there was none and even Sune said that you received no injury, it took me awhile to see why and it wasn't until this fell out of your vest when I hung it up," he explained reaching into his coat and pulling out a small velvet box with a gaping hole in the top.

Gaara looked at him surprised, no one was suppose to see that item yet. The older man stood up again to give it back to Gaara. He practically snatched it away from him before opening the box to find the precious item unscratched and completely unharmed, he would need a new box though.

"So you want to marry my daughter?" Sune's father said with smile, "That's a nice engagement ring you got there, I'm sure she'll love it."

"Actually that's why I asked for you and your wife to come here, I wanted to ask for permission-"

"We approve," the older man grinned. "So when are you going to pop the question?"

"Uh soon probably," Gaara answered, "Then we will have plenty of time to plan the wedding for next year…that is, if she says yes."

The older man chuckled, "I'm sure she will."

"Thank you," Gaara said as sand surrounded the ring and it disappeared. "I will put it away so Sune does not see it yet, now I will hope that she does not use her telepathy and find out too soon."

They both chuckled, "Can't hide anything from her, can you?"

"Nope," Gaara said, "Not much to hide anymore, besides surprises."

The older man chuckled again and patted Gaara shoulder, "Good luck with that, I'll go get Sune now, she should still be sleeping in the break room," he said before leaving.

A few minutes passed when Gaara realized that the damaged ring box was still sitting on the table next to him. He quickly took it and tried to think of something to do with it. Just as the door started to open he threw it out the window and turned just in time to see Sune step in. She smiled warmly at him as neither spoke and she closed the door behind her before going to hug him.

He hugged her back for several seconds until she pulled away, but sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him. He noticed that she actually closed the door when she came in, but knew that there must be many curious people outside so she was taking extra care to keep his privacy. Gaara leaned back into a reclined position on his pillows, "I hear you are having visions now?"

"It was just one…" she said, "And I was so worried I just about had a meltdown when I couldn't find you in the village."

"I am sorry, next time I will leave a message for you," he smirked before noticing what she was wearing. "Why are you wearing a nurse uniform?"

She was about to tell him that her dress was torn and dirty but thought of something else instead, "Because I am your personal nurse for the evening," she grinned and he raised a nonexistent eyebrow, he knew she was joking. "Now my patient, where does it hurt the most?"

He didn't really hurt anywhere so he place his hand over his heart. There was no pain there either.

She leaned towards him and placed her hand over his, "Here? The best medicine for a wounded heart is love and lots of hugs," she smiled before hugging him.

"You must be right, because it does not hurt anymore, I am not even sure when it completely went away, but right now there is nothing but… a warm soft feeling there," he said holding her.

"We must continue your treatment then, I'll give you lots of love and hugs to make sure the pain stays away for good."

"Be careful, I might hold you to that," he said as he hugged her tighter not letting her go. She shifted her lower body so she was laying with him and still hugging him. They exchanged 'I love yous', and laid together for maybe an hour while Gaara listened Sune yawn a few times before her breathing signaled that she fell asleep. It was late and even though he slept for a few hours already, he still felt tired and soon fell asleep himself.

~~~ Later ~~~

The next morning, Gaara left the hospital and went to his office to start a few papers and a report of the events from the day before. The council and elders was going to get an earful. He even asked Raven and Suki to revaluate every single ninja ranked above Chunin, including the council and elders, to find out who was trustworthy and who was most likely to turn against the village and him as the current Kazekage. He wasn't going to put up with anymore petty betrayals.

Hours passed as he worked until he took a short break and stood from his desk to look out a window. After thinking about Sune, he went back to his desk and opened a scroll and started writing on it. Soon he closed it again and looked up just in time to see Sune step in carrying a basket.

"I was just about to go see you," Gaara said.

"Well I came here, brought you lunch and I need to check your injuries," she smiled. "Did you need to see me for something in particular?" she asked pointing to the scroll in his hand.

"Yes," he said handing the scroll to her, "You are being promoted to special Jonin, long overdue promotion in my opinion."

"What?…" She opened the scroll and verified that it was true, "Why?"

"You are strong and dependable, well on your way to being a full Jonin if you choose to peruse it, if not, this can still open up more opportunities as a medical teacher."

"Mm, dating the Kazekage sure has its perks," she smiled.

"I did no do it because of-"

"I know, I know, I was just teasing," she laughed softly. After telling him to take his shirts off she set the basket and scroll down on his desk and turned to close the door. He sat on the edge if his edge of his desk as she removed his bandages and checked to see if everything had healed correctly. The green glow surrounded her hands and she moved them over his chest and told him to breath normally. "Any issues with breathing normally, fast, or deeply?" he shook his head and she asked him to cough a couple times before pulling away. "Everything's perfect, a clean bill of health!"

When he put his clothes back on they ate lunch together and Sune decided she wanted to talk about yesterday, "So when did you get so good at taijutsu?"

"It has been gradual, taijutsu is something I needed to work on and improve, especially since I fell behind my rivals and friends," he explained.

"From the Leaf?" She asked and he nodded.

"Sometimes my sand was not enough against certain opponents, and I still have a massive amount of stamina, but now I can put that trait to better use," he disappeared right before Sune's eyes. "Speed was another thing I have been working on," he said from behind her, "Even that I still need to improve on, but for now it is acceptable."

"I'll say," Sune said turning to face him. "Your jutsu always seemed fast but physical speed does seem important against certain people."

"Exactly, it also helps to have the element of surprise, one reason I have been training in solitude."

"You're going to have to start taking me with you, I could use that kind of training too."

"Okay," he agreed.

"By the way, when are Kankuro and Cholandra getting back from their honeymoon?"

"Three or four days, depending on traveling conditions."

"So they're on their way back pretty soon, I wonder if they got us souvenirs!"

There was a knock at the door before Raven and Suki entered. "We have some reports on what we've done so far," Raven said holding up a file.

"We should have everyone finished by the end of tomorrow," Suki added.

Sune looked at Gaara, "What's going on?"

"Revaluating everyone ranked above Chunin, we need to find anymore spies or traitors," Gaara explained.

"I'm above Chunin now, does that mean me too?" Sune asked.

"No, you just got promoted, and I am sure I have nothing to worry about from you," he told her as Raven and Suki left again.

~~~ Later ~~~

It was two days later and Gaara was on the rooftop of the Kazekage building. He was on the railing watching the start of the sunset as he waited for Sune to arrive, she still had fifteen minutes until the time he asked her to come. After the revaluation of the ninja, they found that there was no more bad seeds among them, for now. Gaara had called one more meeting with the council to find out if they approved of Sune, even if they did not he was going to be with her anyway, but luckily they all approved. It turned out that it was Daichi and Yuuto starting rumors about her that caused them to disapprove last time. It also seemed that Sune received a nickname among the sand ninja, they were calling her Ange Clair, the Clear Angel to represent her glass techniques.

Yuuto's daughter, Misaki, had been spending a lot of time with Yoshiko. Since she didn't want to return to her father's house, Yoshiko is letting her stay at his apartment until she finds her own place. It worked out pretty good for the both of them, he had a spare room and wasn't charging rent while in exchange she was going to clean and watch the place while he was gone. Rumors were already starting that a relationship was forming between the two.

Soon Sune arrived right on time and she greeted and kissed him. "Am I late? I was at the store and I picked up your favorite for dinner tonight," she smiled.

His face lit up at the thought of this favorite meal, "Sounds great, thank you," he said before they exchanged 'I love yous'.

Sune stepped to the railing and looked at the village and admired the spots of green among the streets. Every so often there was a spot of pink from a cherry blossom tree and larger areas that was almost all green from the parks, training areas, and upscale housing with yards.

"Sune, can ask you something?" Gaara said next to her.

"Of course, ask me anything."

Gaara took a breath and reached for her hands to hold them between them, "When I met you, I knew there was something special about you. I did not know what, but somehow you sparked my interest and you quickly became my friend and then I fell in love with you before I even knew it," Gaara said as she looked at him lovingly while listening carefully to what he had to say. "I have opened up to you, I can talk to you, I can be close to you, because with you I am home and loved. You even take care of me and always smile…" He realized he was getting off topic from what he really wanted to say. "In my future, I want you to be there, by my side where I can be with you and protect you… What I really want to say…" He let go of one of her hands and kneeled down as he presented the ring to her, "Will you marry me and do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

She was speechless and the brief silence seemed like forever to him as he started to panic on the inside. Quickly she nodded as she couldn't get her voice to work at first, "Of course… yes, yes I will," she smiled brightly and he breathed a sigh of relief and happiness before putting the ring on her ring finger and kissed her hand. As he stood up she hopped up and wrapped her arms around his neck while kissing him deeply. He was surprised by this at first but quickly accepted held her as close as humanly possible. By now the rest of the world had disappeared and it was just the two of them, both completely unaware of the duo of blonde-haired kunoichi recording the whole thing from nearby.


	34. A Year to Plan One Night to Party!

**Ange Clair **

**Chapter 34**

**A Year to Plan; One Night to Party!**

The newly engaged couple had gone home later that evening. Sune's parents were staying with them at the manor but they were out to see some new shops in the shopping district. They would return soon so Sune started dinner. Gaara helped somewhat as he wanted to talk to her about what she wants concerning the date of their wedding, they agreed to have it in a year, maybe late spring. At dinner Sune wasted no time in announcing their engagement to her parents, who congratulated them and pulled out some new sake they just purchased to toast with. By the end of the night they were all buzzed from the alcohol but not drunk. Sune's mother brought out a large scrapbook of nothing but wedding stuff. Some of it was from her own wedding, but most of it she's been putting together ever since she found out that Sune was in a relationship with Gaara.

It was late by the time Sune's parents went to bed, but Gaara lounged on the couch until Sune joined him after changing into her sleepwear. Sune's cat, Bo, joined them as well and started rubbing his face against her ring. "Oops, I forgot a certain kitty likes to play with expensive shiny things," Sune laughed before putting Bo on the floor and creating a glass ball for him to play with.

"Is there anything you cannot do?" Gaara sighed from his place next to her.

"You need a reminder already?" Sune laughed before listing the things she can't do, "Well… I'm not very good at math and always had issues with history… I'm slow at getting jokes a lot… I can't walk on storm drains… I can't stand spiders or really loud noises… black birds freak me out… and I can't stand inconsiderate snobs they make me want to punch them in the face."

Gaara smirked at the last one, "I love you," he said.

She laughed before kissing him. After sitting back and watching Bo play with his new glass ball for a little while. "Hey, Kankuro and Cholandra are coming back tomorrow right?" Sune asked and Gaara nodded. "They better have brought back souvenirs, they went somewhere really nice and I want to see what they got."

"I am sure they did, if not Kankuro then Cholandra surely took the time to find something while touring the place," Gaara assured his fiancée. He wondered when he was going to see Temari again, she'd want to know about his and Sune's engagement as soon as possible.

~~~ Later ~~~

By mid afternoon the next day, the newly wedded couple had returned from their honeymoon, with souvenirs which they brought to the Kazekage's manor to see Gaara and Sune. While Cholandra told Sune all about the place they honeymooned at, Gaara told Kankuro what had happened among the council. Kankuro was not happy about it, mainly because it happened while he was gone and he could have helped.

Then to everyone's surprise, Temari and Shikamaru showed up. They greeted everyone before talking to Gaara and he told them what he told Kankuro. They had the same reaction as Kankuro too but they were all glad that everything turned out alright. Then Temari immediately went to Sune and Cholandra to talk, while the guys sat around and didn't talk much aside from the weather. It's dry, as always.

Soon the excited shrieks of the women pierced the air and the guys jumped up to see what was going on. Someone had obviously noticed Sune's engagement ring on her finger and they were both holding Sune's hand while inspecting it closely. It was a decent sized round cut diamond with a smaller light purple amethyst on each side while the band was silver with simple wavy engravings along the outside.

Kankuro and Shikamaru looked over to Gaara who simply smirked and shrugged. Kankuro grinned and put his brother in a half-headlock. When Gaara was released Shikamaru smirked and nodded in congratulations just before Temari just about tackled him she was so happy.

When the excitement calmed down Kankuro turned to his brother, "Hey Gaara, you know what this means," he started, "Bachelor party!"

"No," Gaara said plainly, he knew exactly what his brother was thinking and he didn't want strippers. At Kankuro's party, there wasn't any strippers, but the other guys sure seemed to talk about them a lot. Gaara didn't remember much of the end of that evening since he dank himself sick and was the first to pass out, luckily nothing happened to him while he was asleep. Gaara shook his head before putting his arm around his fiancée, "Besides, the wedding will not be until next year, so there is no hurry and we have plenty of time to plan everything."

~~~ Months Later; Three Weeks Before the Wedding ~~~

It was just under three weeks until the wedding and everyone was going insane. There was so much last minute planning that Gaara was being interrupted from his work what seemed like every five minutes. Gaara and Sune wanted to have as small of a wedding as they could, which turned out to not be as small as originally thought. The invitations have already been sent out for the wedding, bridal shower, and bachelor party. Gaara still didn't want a bachelor party but Kankuro wasn't taking no for an answer, so Gaara gave up on it and let Kankuro do whatever he was going to do. Sune's mother was more than happy to take care of some of the planning and the other little stuff like flowers, arranging, and who to hire to do what, but since Gaara was paying for it he was smart enough to set a budget. As long as they stayed in that budget he was happy.

After the fitting for his ceremony clothes, the Kazekage practically ran into his office before locking the door behind him. He needed peace and quiet desperately. He sighed in relief that no one had caught him before he made it into his office. He hoped Sune was having an easier time than he was. Gaara dragged his feet as he went to his desk and when he heard a knock at his door, he quickly dove behind his desk to hide under it. To his surprise he found himself face to face with his fiancée, but quickly sat next to her and waited for whoever was at his door to leave.

"What are you doing here?" Gaara asked Sune.

"Hiding," she said simply before she moved closer and cuddled against him.

"Why?"

"I needed a moment to breath," she said, "Why are you hiding?"

"Same reason," Gaara admitted. The stressed couple didn't get to relax long though because it was time to make the final decision on the wedding cake. The best pastry chef in the village was going to make it, but she needed know what the couple wanted soon. Gaara told Sune to go with her first choice from the last time they were in the shop. In no time they left the shop again and he was planning on walking her home and going to his office to try to get some of his work done, he had been falling behind badly. Instead Sune pulled him into a shop that made him very uncomfortable. It was a lady's undergarments and lingerie store. Before Gaara got three feet into the shop he stopped and tried to give Sune his wallet so he could leave.

"If you need this type of stuff, you do not need me here to buy it, take this and get whatever you want," Gaara tried so he could leave.

"But I do need you here, I need to know what you like," she explained. He looked at her in disbelief, this better not be a mean joke to make him uncomfortable.

"Why? You will be the one wearing it," Gaara retorted, really wanting to leave.

Sune rolled her eyes, he could be so dense sometimes. "Just come on, it'll be quick and painless if you let it," Sune said as she grabbed him and dragged him into the store. In an empty area with no people nearby she explained that she want to get one sexy outfit for the honeymoon and after the wedding, but she needs him to find out what to get. Also when her girl-friends asked her what kind of things they should get as a gift of that nature for her bridal shower, she can't even tell them a color because she doesn't have a clue what he finds appealing that way.

"I do not know," Gaara nearly pouted, "I figured we would find out this kind of thing as we go when we are married."

"Just work with me, please," Sune batted her eyelashes. Gaara knew where this would go so he slouched his shoulders in defeat. Sune smiled and led him to a section of clothes telling him that he could give a number for level of hotness, one being repulsing, five being okay, and ten being jackpot. She would find something she thought he might like, but that she approved of, and held it in front of her so he might be able to picture it on her and make an opinion. She started out by showing him just tops so she didn't either embarrass him, make him uncomfortable, or even by some chance overload the system and have to drag him out of the store and clean up a nosebleed and have to splash water on him to wake him up. They went through all the tops she choose and didn't get higher than 'maybe a seven' but didn't get anything lower than a four. After half an hour of this and taking him to all sorts of different types of clothes, she held up an empty hanger and his jaw dropped. Sune was so happy to finally get some sort of reaction from him that she began looking at outfits again, there was hope after all and she was determined to get the jackpot. Gaara was looking for his own hope and tried to tell her that she would look hot in anything and he would have to be more than stupid not to think so. At last they found something when he went completely silent as his brain went blank, it was a red and black corset one-piece meant to enhance and amplify the certain parts of wearer's body.

After finally purchasing their single find, Sune practically skipped out of the shop while holding her fiancé's hand and holding the shop bag with her other hand. Gaara was glad that he made her so happy even if it did mean near humiliation and that now his mind was cluttered with images of a near naked Sune. She could feel the strange fluctuations in his chakra as his mood kept shifting so she looked back at him and he had his head down, his hair covering his eyes, and she could see the red on his cheeks. "Oh I'm sorry, Gaara," Sune said hugging his arm, "I know that was awkward, but now it's over and we won't have to do that again for some time." He only nodded, she knew that his mind was currently in the gutter and he was trying to get out of it but that couldn't happen until she out of his sight. "Well I really appreciate what you did for me and I promise to make it up to you but right now I have to see Temari and Cholandra about some stuff for the bridal shower, bye!" With that she ran off and he wasted no time in going to his office and burying himself in his paperwork. There was still a lot of planning and organizing needed for the wedding, but they were getting plenty of help, and he's the Kazekage so if anything happens there will be people that will go out of their way last minute for him.

~~~ One Week Until the Wedding ~~~

Everything was set and ready and now that the wedding is only six days away, it was time to party. The guests from other villages were arriving and would stay until the day after the ceremony. Sune had greeted a couple of her old medical teachers and introduced them to Gaara. The Hokage, Naruto, and his friends were last to arrive the morning of the parties. Both the bridal shower and the bachelor party were going to start that afternoon and be held at the Kazekage's manor, the girls were using the first floor and the guys were staying upstairs.

~~~ The Bridal Shower ~~~

The bride wore a sparkly plastic tiara and a white sash as she greeted her guests with her mother and soon to be sister-in-laws, Temari and Cholandra. She knew that Gaara was upstairs with Kankuro, her dad, and some of the other guys who already arrived. Beforehand she made Kankuro promise to stay on his best behavior. Soon the girls were in the living room that was completely decorated in pink and white, even the food, drinks, and disposable dishes matched the color theme. Everyone was laughing, talking, and having a good time as they enjoyed the free food and pink colored fruit cocktails or punch.

Sune and Hinata began talking and admiring Hinata's engagement ring. "It's so pretty!" Sune smiled.

Hinata blushed, "It was my mother's, my father gave it to Naruto when he gave him permission to ask me to marry him."

"Wow, it's an heirloom!" Sune gasped and looked at the ring again. "You know, Gaara asked my parents permission too, wonder if it's a shinobi's honor thing," she laughed. "So, how did he propose?"

Hinata blushed again, "He took me somewhere romantic and told me he loved me, and wanted to be with me, and then he got down on one knee and just asked." The pale eyed woman blushed even more and Sune urged her to continue, "I-I barely said yes before I fainted!" Hinata's hands came to her cheeks as she tried to hide the redness she knew was present.

Sune was about to reassure the shy Hyuga until Ino and Matsuri asked Sune if there was going to be strippers. "No!" Sune blurted out. "Gaara would never approve of something like that," she told them with a slight blush.

Temari shoved another drink into Sune's hand as she turned to the other girls and Hinata who was turning redder at the thought of seeing near naked men. "If the guys aren't allowed to have strippers than neither are we, and vise versa, that's the agreement," Temari grinned. "You should have seen the look on Kankuro's face when I told him that," she added laughing.

Sune's mother took away Sune's almost already empty drink, "The only one she wants to see take of his clothes is her soon to be husband!"

"Mom!" Sune shouted embarrassed before snatching her drink back and finishing it off.

"Think we could persuade him to come down here and do just that?" someone suggested and the other girls squealed, some being in laughter and others being just in surprise. Just then there was thudding coming from the floor above them.

"What in the world are they doing up there?" Sune's mother asked.

Temari shrugged, "I'd go look, but I don't want to be scarred for life."

After some playing, drinking, and eating. It was time to open the gifts. Sune had received a nice verity of things, from items that made her smile like picture frames and bath stuff, to other items that made her blush like lingerie and a 'position' book. Sune's mom got a little too interested in the book for Sune's comfort, and it didn't help that Temari started looking at it too. The person who gave it to her, Aiya the bookshop owner, said that she can exchanged the next time she stops by the shop if she decides she doesn't want it.

Once that was done, they turned up some music socialized and danced some until Temari decided to have the girls play charades. By now most of the girls were drunk and started guessing random things causing some others to laugh so much they'd fall out of their chairs.

Raven was next to act something out but she simply crossed her arms and made a grumpy face. Everyone was guessing the best they could until Sakura blurted out the correct answer, "It's Gaara!" She was right and now it was her turn. "Alright Soone, you gotta gwuess this one!" drunk Sakura tried to say and started waving her arms around like snakes.

The girls all looked at Sune and back to Sakura as they waited as silently as they could. Temari was giggling and Sune assumed she knew what Sakura was doing and it took all her self-control to keep herself from using her telepathy and play fair. "Are you a bunch of snakes? Water? Wind?" Sune guessed but was wrong. "Then I have no idea unless I use my telepathy but that's cheating."

Temari couldn't suppress her laughter any longer, "I think you should give her a more obvious clue, do that thing we were talking about earlier," Temari winked and waved her drink.

"Ohhhhh…" drunk Sakura nodded with a snicker. "I can do this, but it's a secret… so don't tell Naruto or Sasuke…" Sakura put her finger to her lips and hushed them before making a single hand sign. In a puff of smoke a shirtless Gaara appeared as Sakura used a transformation jutsu, much like Naruto's sexy jutsu. Squeals irrupted from the room once again, mostly in laughter while Cholandra and Hinata covered their eyes to keep themselves from looking as the 'shirtless Gaara' stepped right up in front of Sune and undid the button of his pants.

Raven and Suki looked at the drinks in their hand, "Alright, that's it, we're closing the bar," Suki said. Raven agreed.

Sune had turned completely red and was frantically trying to convince Sakura that she knew the answer before she continued to undress anymore in front of her and everyone else. She would be worried about what her mother was seeing, but right now her mother was cheering happily.

"Oi! What's going on down there?" a loud male voice called from the stairs, the girls froze and immediately acted casual as Sakura turned back into herself.

~~~ The Bachelor Party ~~~

Kankuro had put together a simple get-together for the guys in the entertainment room. There was some couches, chairs, a poker table, television, and of course alcohol. He complained that it was the best he could do because he wasn't allowed to get strippers, but Gaara had a feeling that he was just saying that since Kankuro hadn't had strippers at his own bachelor party even after his fiancée at the time said that if that's what he really wanted before the wedding then he could.

Naruto sat next to Gaara and told him that he is engaged to Hinata Hyuga. The Kazekage congratulated the Hokage before making small talk. Naruto started going on about his future father-in-law and how Gaara was lucky that Sune's parents already liked Gaara from the beginning. "Oh by the way," the Hokage started, "Hinata has the invitations for you guys to come to our wedding and stuff, I think she'll give them to Sune before everyone leaves tonight." The Kazekage nodded in acknowledgement. "I also wanted to ask you if you'd want to stand with me as one of my groomsmen when I marry her?"

"Of course," Gaara answered, "Why would I refuse when you are going to be there for me?"

Naruto grinned, "That's great! Now it's you, Sasuke, Iruka, Kakashi, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sai," Naruto informed. "Oh and you have tell me about your honeymoon location when you get back, I'm thinking about taking Hinata there or this one other place, but it's too hard to decide."

"Sure, but I think Hinata will be happy with anywhere you take her," Gaara told his friend.

"I know, that's why it's so hard to decide…" the blonde pouted. "This is harder then deciding which flavor ramen to get…"

The redhead put his hand on his friend's shoulder, "I think it is time for another drink." Naruto grinned as he agreed and stood up to get a drink.

Before the two sat down again, Sai grabbed their attention, "Excuse me, but how long did you and you're fiancée delay gratifications?" he asked both of them.

"What?" Naruto shouted.

"I read in a book that a couple should wait until marriage to consummate, but it also said that a lot of people don't wait until then, so I was wondering then how long do people usually wait?" he explained simply as he looked at both of them expecting a simple answer.

Both of the men were silent before Naruto decided to speak, "Gosh Sai, what kind of Hokage would I be if I cheapened Hinata like that? I've got to set a good example!" Satisfied with his own answer he folded his arms without telling them how Hinata's father and cousin threatened him.

Sai nodded and looked to Gaara who looked confused, "Couples do not always wait until the wedding night to consummate?" Gaara really thought that is the way it is for everyone as he led a very sheltered social life. Sure he knew about prostitutes, but considered that to be disgraceful and only for the desperate. "Sune is well aware that I would never do anything to dishonor her."

Naruto grinned and threw an arm around Gaara's neck as he stood beside him, "See? I don't know about you guys, but us KAGES have morals and honor and setting good examples to worry about on top of everything else!"

The rest of the guys respected that, but Sai had to open his mouth again, "Naruto, are you sure that you're just not embarrassed about having no-" He didn't get to finish as Naruto punched him into the floor causing a loud bang that they were sure the girls below them could hear. Sai was okay though, and now he got the clue.

After a sort while of chatting, lounging, and drinking, Kankuro sat next to Gaara, "Hey little bro, since it turns out that you and Sune haven't you know, I need to go over a few things with you." Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow as his brother continued, "Bras. Getting them off a girl can be a tricky thing," Kankuro nodded to himself. "Partially because there are many different kinds with different clasps."

Kankuro stopped as Gaara couldn't help but smirk, "Just because Sune and I haven't 'gone all the way'," Gaara started and even used finger quotation, "Doesn't mean I haven't got to 'second base'." _(Side note: Second base refers to touching your partner above the waist.)_

Kankuro was surprised at first before he grinned and gave Gaara a crushing hug, "I'm so happy!" Kankuro shouted, maybe because he had a little too much to drink already. "How were they?" he asked suddenly while snickering.

Gaara was about to say that it is none of his business when Naruto jumped up, "I bet they're not as great as Hinata's!" he obviously already drank too much as he was swaying back and forth. "Hers are huuuuge!" Naruto spread his arms wide to exaggerate. And so the competition had begun and almost all the guys were saying how their girlfriend, fiancée, or wife had the best breasts for different reasons. Naruto even used his sexy jutsu to turn into various girls in bikinis.

The conversation somehow turned to sports then pies and cakes as the television was on a sports program and then went to a commercial about desserts. By now they could hear the squeals and laughing of the women downstairs. After the squeals erupted again, Naruto and Gaara decided it was time to see what was going on.

"Oi! What's going on down there?" Naruto's loud voice called down the stairs. The two kages could hear the girls shuffle around and when they came around the corner the girls were sitting around casually.

"Oh h-hey Gaara," Sune smiled, her face was still flushed from her previous blushing. "What's up?" she asked.

"We heard some screaming," Gaara explained.

"Oh, heh heh heh…" Sune laughed nervously as she couldn't think of an excuse.

Temari stood up and stomped over to the men, "We were playing a game, and this is a bridal shower, so get out before we kick you out!" she threatened about ready to throw them up the stairs if needed. The two men shrugged and went back upstairs of their own free will. As soon as their footsteps reached the top of the stairs the girls burst into laughter. The rest of the evening went by without anymore awkwardness or screaming.

Naruto and Hinata were the only guests staying at the manor through to the wedding since Naruto is the Hokage and should have more proper security than the hotels so it was also the Kazekage's duty to provide that for his guest. Temari and Shikamaru are staying with Kankuro and Cholandra until after the wedding, then they will watch the manor while Gaara is gone. After everyone left late that night, Naruto and Hinata sat down with Gaara and Sune in the sunroom to join them in looking at the stars. Hinata gave Sune the invitations for their wedding and they planned to give the others out to Gaara's siblings in the morning, if everyone didn't have a hangover.

The ceremony was in only less then a week now and everything was set, all they had to worry about was if anything would go wrong until then. Sune and Hinata turned in early to go to bed leaving the guys talk for awhile until they went to bed as well.


	35. The Ceremony: Life Together

**Ange Clair**

**Chapter 35**

**The Ceremony: Life Together**

Tomorrow was the big day, and Sune was anxious as she cleaned the kitchen for the second time and waited for Gaara to return from his office. Sune's parents went to bed already and advised her to try to sleep as well. Just as she was about to call it a night she heard the door close softly, she knew it was Gaara and ran to greet him. Without saying anything she kissed him. Unfortunately the kiss didn't keep him from asking questions right after.

"Were you staying up for me? It is going to be an eventful day tomorrow, you need your rest," he reminded.

"I'm ready when you are," she smiled and gestured her attire. She was already wearing boxer shorts and a tank top to sleep in.

"Are those my…" he trailed off as he decided to leave it be and get ready for bed. As he stepped out of his bathroom, dressed in sleep clothes similar to hers, he saw Sune waiting for him in his bed just like she had done on some of the coldest winter nights during the last year. He sighed, she could be unpredictable sometimes, but he climbed in next to her without a word. Not that he minded being with her, besides they were to be married the very next day, and tomorrow night they would most likely be getting very little sleep with what he was planning.

Once he was situated, she pecked his cheek and cuddled up to him. Since she was anxious about tomorrow, it took her a while to fall asleep. During that time, many thoughts went through her head. Gaara had yet to see her wedding dress despite not understanding why seeing it before the wedding would be bad luck. She still wanted to know where they were going for their honeymoon, it seemed like everyone knew but her, and against her better judgment she used her telepathy to gain some clues. All she had learned was that it was nice, expensive, and contained one of her favorite things to do. That could be a number of places but eventually she decided to let it be a surprise since she would find out soon enough, she and Gaara would leave the morning after the wedding. Sune stroked his chest lovingly, he was asleep by now since he wasn't anxious at all.

Sune blushed at the thought that tomorrow night at this very time, in this very bed, they would be making love for the first time. She let her hand wander down his torso, even through the fabric of his shirt she could feel his refined muscles. It had been some time now since she had seen him without a shirt, not counting her bridal shower when Sakura transformed, but she knew time had been good to him as his body matured and the hours he still puts into training helps too. He shifted slightly in his sleep and the hand that wasn't holding her came up and rested on her hand. She laced her fingers with his and soon fell asleep.

~~~ Almost Time ~~~

Still half an hour until the wedding began, the Kazekage was ready and waiting for the ceremony to start with his best man, his brother, who was sitting nearby tapping his hands on the table as the early guests attending the ceremony arrived and started taking their seats after a short greeting. Trying to ignore his brother's unusually nervous behavior, Gaara went over his mental list of things to before the wedding. He spent all of yesterday and all morning in his office making sure he had all his work done and he also put together the available assignments for the active shinobi. There was enough missions to last another week. Both Baki and Kankuro were going to take over the Kazekage duties for the next couple weeks while he and Sune were on their honeymoon.

Gaara was brought out of his thoughts by Naruto and Sune's father. "Lookin' good buddy," Naruto grinned and Gaara nodded as Kankuro stood to talk with blonde Hokage. Gaara was dressed in white and Naruto and the others were dressed in black. Sune's father greeted Gaara and talked to him a little.

"Well as the father of the bride, I'm going to check on Sune, she should be just about ready be now," the older man said. "Less than half an hour, it's amazing that you're so calm," he chuckled at Gaara. The redhead smirked, that was the sixth time someone told him that today.

Sune's father went to the room Sune was getting ready in and knocked on the door a couple times before his wife answered. She pulled him into the room telling him that he was just in time and he had to see their little girl.

Sune was standing in front of a large mirror, clad in her wedding dress as Temari, Cholandra, and Hinata, were either making final touches to hair or the bottom of the dress. The dress was a silky white, with lacey straps hanging to the edges of her shoulders, white satin ribbons crisscrossed in the back in a corset fashion, and the bottom was spread out around her legs as it reached the floor. Her bangs were pulled back out of her face using many sparkly white flowers, only a few shorter strands were left to hang over her forehead, while the rest of her dark purple hair was pulled back and hung in shiny curled locks.

The mother of the bride was struggling to keep from crying as her father smiled widely. Sune saw her father in the reflection of the mirror and smiled as well before turning around and hugging him. "Are you ready to walk me down the aisle?" Sune asked and he nodded before there was another knock at the door. Sune's mother opened the door for Raven and Suki who were carrying an armful of flowers. They handed a bouquet to each of the bridesmaids and then gave Sune hers. Raven and Suki would have been a part of the actual wedding as bridesmaids if they weren't already in charge of security and making sure things were set and ready. They each had headsets they were talking into.

"Alright, less then ten minutes left," Suki informed with a smile before she and Raven left again.

"Well, I'm going to take my seat," Sune's mother said before hugging her daughter and leaving.

Sune looked in the mirror one last time before turning to her bridesmaids. They were wearing lavender dresses that went past their knees, each dress was only slightly different in the tops. Temari had straps that went over the sides of her shoulders, Cholandra had classic inch wide straps, and Hinata's had halter straps around her neck. The girls put on their shoes before they left the room and prepared to begin the ceremony.

~~~ Ceremony Time ~~~

The wedding itself was being held inside a shrine while the reception was going to be just outside in one of the nicest gardens in the village. While family, friends, and some colleagues attended those, there was practically a festival going on in the rest of the village in celebration.

At the beginning of the wedding ceremony, Kankuro walked with his wife Cholandra, Temari walked with her husband Shikamaru, and Naruto walked with his fiancée Hinata. The whole time Gaara was trying to sneak a peak at Sune who he knew was not far behind. When the moment came, he did what many grooms would do, he froze awestruck as he watched her come towards him with her father. He had never seen her so beautiful, she had definitely earned the term 'angel' in her nickname now more so than ever.

Once she reached the alter, she quickly hugged her father before he sat down next to his wife and Sune stepped up to stand next to Gaara, they smiled to each other before turning to the elder so they could begin. They had said their own vows, the 'I do's', exchanged rings, and then kissed. The whole thing was being recorded, pictures taken, and at the end they all applauded the newly wedded couple. In no time they signed the register along with their designated witnesses and then walked back down the aisle together to move onto the reception.

~~~ Reception Time ~~~

Outside the guests enjoyed some light music as they drank, mingled, and took plenty of pictures until it was time to eat. This is when the father of the bride welcomed everyone to the wedding reception and thanked them for coming. At some point during the meal the best man made his toast. Kankuro spoke briefly about how Gaara had worked really hard to get to where he is now and now he is getting the love and appreciation he deserves, and he is sure that he and Sune will be very happy together. He even tried to take credit for the two getting together since when Sune first came to the village was also when he was trying to get Gaara out into the dating world and he suggested Sune.

"In short," Kankuro said as he concluded his toast, "Even if he use to be a crazy little psycho, he turned out great and met a wonderful girl, cheers." People laughed at his statement as Gaara threw a mild glare at his brother, Sune just tried to contain her giggles. Soon the main course of the dinner was served and a few others made their toasts as well, like Sune's parents, Temari, and then Naruto.

After that the first dance was set to begin, Gaara took his wife to the dance floor that was set up and the music started playing. Sune knew the song immediately and looked up at him with glossy eyes, it was the first song they ever danced to. Halfway through the song, the person in charge of the music invited the rest of bridal party to dance as well for the rest of the song. Soon there was plenty of dancing to keep people entertained as others talked and drank some more.

A little over half an hour later was the cutting of the cake. Cake was served along with coffee or champagne and the bride and groom thanked everyone for coming, and gave a special thanks to Sune's parents and to Gaara's siblings for helping so much with the planning and preparation for this day.

Right after that was the father-daughter and mother-son dances. Sune danced with her father and Gaara danced with his mother-in-law, who again insisted on him calling her 'mom'. He did after she asked again which made her very happy. After the song ended, it was time to leave for some of the older guests like the village elders and some of the council, Gaara and Sune had already got a chance to talk with them for this reason. The dancing continued and Sune also danced with Kankuro, Shikamaru, and Naruto while Gaara also danced with Cholandra, Temari, and Hinata before he danced with Sune again.

"You're behaving so well, normally you pout and moan when you're told to dance," Sune commented.

"It is tradition for the groom to dance, so if it makes you happy then I am happy to do it," Gaara said. With that she kissed him, thanking him without words. The two continued to kiss until Naruto interrupted.

"Hey get a room or save it for the honeymoon," he laughed making Sune giggle softly and Gaara just sighed at his friend.

Before the last dance the bouquet and garter were tossed. Gaara's old sensei, Baki caught the garter and Aiya, the bookshop owner caught the bouquet. Everyone smiled and laughed at the two as they each turned away to hide an embarrassed blush. For the last dance those two had danced together, and seemed to be having a good time. At the end of the last dance the DJ announced it was time to say farewell and see the newlyweds off.

The couple were to get on a carriage and rode through the streets of Sunagakure back to the manor. The purpose of this was so the people of the village could see the couple before the night was over, it was a part of being the Kazekage.

Once at the manor he carried her bridle style all the way to the bedroom, not putting her down until they reached the door and he opened it for her. Locking the door he turned and kissed his wife passionately as they stepped farther into the room. Once they broke apart for air she pulled away saying that she was going to change into something a little more appropriate and slipped into the bathroom where she had put some of her other clothes. Gaara didn't mind, this way they wouldn't ruin her wedding dress and it gave him time to close the curtains, turn on the bedside lamps, and partially disrobe himself. He wouldn't admit it, but he was certainly looking forward to this.

They had talked about waiting until the next day to do this if they ended up tired or stressed after a long day of festivities, but both being ninja they seemed to handle the stress well and now it was just the two of them in the house, together at last, and the moment was too perfect.

He was down to his shorts and his button down shirt when Sune stepped out of the bathroom. "That was quick," he comment upon seeing her.

She blushed under his intense gaze as he looked her over. "There wasn't much to change into," she said as sensually as she could, obviously good enough as he smirked and stepped towards her. She was wearing a short red nighty that was almost transparent except over her chest so he could see the matching panties worn underneath. She had let her still wavy and curled hair down and took out all the little flower pins that were holding back her bangs, giving her a messy look. To him she looked irresistible.

In no time they were on the bed, she was sitting in his lap straddling him as they made out while their hands wandered and caressed. Tonight was something they were both looking forward to and now they were allowed to let loose their hormones. She wasn't surprised when his sand started acting on his emotions and joined his hands in caressing her skin as she unbuttoned the rest of his shirt and threw it elsewhere so she would have more skin to feel. Tonight she was his and he was hers, nothing was going to bother them in their own little world as they joined together as one in their own intimate dance.

~~~ Later ~~~

Sune awoke the next morning with the sun shinning on the bed. She yawned before noticing that Gaara wasn't in the bed next to her like she expected. As soon as she sat up she winced slightly, forgetting about the soreness in her lower body. When she was getting ready in the bathroom the night before, she had preformed two different medical jutsu on herself. One jutsu was a contraceptive since they certainly weren't ready for children yet, and the other to prevent her from feeling as much pain during their first time, but she still felt discomfort at first and it didn't prevent the soreness after the jutsu wore off, she knew it could be worse if she wasn't a ninja and already limber.

She held the sheet over her chest as she moved her hair from her face and saw that the bathroom door was opened and she could hear the water being turned off. Her husband stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in a robe, and when he saw she was awake he was by her side in an instant and greeted her with a sweet kiss. "Good morning," he said.

"Good morning, Gaara."

"I prepared a warm bath for you, it is suppose to help with…" he trailed off with a slight blush, but also felt a little guilty.

"Again, it's not your fault, it's normal and we both knew what was going to happen, that's why I used that jutsu I told you about, I know how you feel about causing me any kind of pain but this was unavoidable," she reminded and he lowered his face. "But thank you for the getting the bath ready, you'll help me right?"

He lifted his head to look are her, trying to decipher what she was saying before he nodded shyly. As she moved the sheets from her body he lifted her up, carried her to the bathroom, and placed her in the large tub waiting for her. He slipped in next to her a moment later. They relaxed and he surprised her by presenting a tray of fruit and her favorite sliced melon to eat while he massaged her back, shoulders, and neck.

By the time she was dried, dressed, and had a cup of tea downstairs, Sune felt much better and ready to leave the house. Gaara told her that he was taking their bags to their room and disappeared in his sand, at first she was wondering why he would be taking them upstairs again, then she realized that he probably meant their hotel room for the honeymoon.

She wondered what was taking him so long, he was gone for half an hour while she drank her tea. When he reappeared he asked if she was ready and when she said she was, he put his arms around her and they both disappeared in the sand. When they arrived at their destination, Sune felt a little dizzy and nauseous, like she was just on a rollercoaster.

"We are here," Gaara said still holding her, "Sorry that took so long, we had to travel a long distance, are you okay?"

She didn't know how long they were traveling, a minute or a hour, she had no idea. "Yes I'm okay, I just need to sit down soon."

He nodded, "I think you will like it here, first I will take you to our room so you can relax for a minute, I already checked in," he said and guided her to the building before them. She had no idea where they were. There were trees, glass, and flowers everywhere. Then she saw the sign next the doors and stopped to read it, 'Hinata Mountain Luxurious Hot Spring Resort'. Sune loves hot springs, and after a short excited outburst followed by hugging and kissing him for bringing her to such a place, she commented about the name 'Hinata'. Gaara told her that was a reason Naruto was considering bringing his Hinata here.

Feeling better, Sune decided she wanted to see the room and then go out and tour the town. The room turned out to be a suite with a hot tub on the balcony that had a view of the ocean. "The ocean? How far did we travel?"

"A ways, we are at the south eastern border of the wind country," he answered. "In fact the beach we went to a couple years ago is not far from here."

When they were in town, they purchased souvenirs for the family and got some snacks and other goodies to take back to their room so they would have something to snack on besides room service for the next ten days. Since this was a tourist town, Sune could see there was many activities for vacationers and travelers to enjoy while they visited. The whole time she was making a mental list of all the things she wanted to do, including swimming, hiking, seeing a new movie at the movie theater, and a play at another theater. Once they returned to their suite, they decided to relax until dinner and after that they ended up cuddling in bed while watching a movie, holding off on certain other activities until he was convinced she was feeling better. To any other person she would seem fine, which she was for the most part by now, but she couldn't fool his keen eye.

Sune sighed as she cuddled with her husband. She was perfectly content and she was on a romantic vacation with the person she loved the most. It just couldn't get any better.

~~~ Sunagakure ~~~

"We're back!" Sune announced after she and Gaara teleported back to the manor. Temari and Shikamaru came to greet them and soon Kankuro, Cholandra, and Sune's parents were there as well to greet them. They showed them the souvenirs and pictures from the honeymoon as Sune told them about the trip. In the mornings after breakfast they would go out and do something like sightseeing or watch a showing and in the afternoons they would relax by sitting by the pool or enjoying the comfort of one the many hot springs available to try. Sune commented that her skin has never been softer after all that soaking.

After they caught up with the family, Gaara went to his office to check up on a few things. An hour later, Sune arrived as well and together they went to the balcony to look at the village. "Looks like everything is still in one piece," Gaara commented.

Sune laughed, "We were gone for less than two weeks, the only person still alive that could destroy the village in that time is you!"

"For now," Gaara agreed. They were quiet for awhile before he spoke again, "You know, you have made be so happy."

She smiled, "You make me happy too," she said. "Worry sometimes, but happy," she added as she hugged him.

The two looked out towards the village and both felt they could see their future, they would be together for a long time, Gaara has his duties to the village as the Kazekage and would come home nearly everyday to his wife after she got home from teaching the young ninja students the medical arts, and children of their own wouldn't be too far behind. Gaara and Sune had met, became friends, fell in love, even saved each other's lives, and got married. They both grew up quite a bit together in the last three years, and watched each other grow and become stronger, better people. Things were looking pretty good in their future, and they could hardly wait to spend it together.

The End.

* * *

A/N

Well that's it. I had fun with this, and I hope you enjoyed it too. The last line there is cheesy but hey, happy ending is a good thing.  
The wedding was hard to figure out how to do, at first I was going to do a japanese style wedding, but that would have meant even more research than what I already had to do just for this. I even tried to look up Naruto style weddings to see what others did, all I saw had this type of wedding. Basically, I tried to keep it simple and not spend pages and pages on just one part of the wedding/reception.

Thanks for reading! For pictures, check out my deviantArt, like is on my homepage.

Please review and feel free to ask questions. I want to become a better writer and you can help.


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